Til the End of Time
by Overlord Valkyrie
Summary: Lillian Adamant. Normal girl, normal life. That is until she gets caught up in the Blood Purge in Palmacosta. Discovering that she's more that meets the eye, she accompanies Emil Castagnier and Marta Luadi on their quest to seek revenge and collect the Centurions! Oh, and Tenebrae too. But there is more to this journey that meets the eye...Emil/RatatoskxOC
1. Prologue

**A/N: Oh look, an EmilxOC fiction.**

***Hides underneath a table***

**Don't kill me for writing one like this. I just suddenly had this urge to write one since there isn't much Emil/RatatoskxOC fiction haha. Also because I'm obsessed with Emil like Marta is but shh you don't need to know that…**

**ANYWAYS, please enjoy this story!**

**I don't own Dawn of the New World, if I did…well…let's say stuff are going to be different. But I do own things you haven't heard before…**

**Oh and forgive me if some things are inaccurate. I still haven't played DONW yet ahaha, blame Radiant Mythology 3 that started my love for Emil.**

* * *

**Prologue: Beginning**

* * *

_**Long ago, the Giant Kharlan Tree, the essence of balance and order in the world, withered and died.**_

_**By the will of the heavens, the world and cleaved in two. Many years later, the Chosen of Regeneration planted a new World Tree to take place of the withered Giant Kharlan Tree. The birth of the new World Tree also brought about the unification of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. **_

_**The two worlds were now reborn as one. The world was at the dawn of a bright new area. **_

_**Or so it seemed…**_

* * *

_**Palmacosta**_

* * *

The city of Palmacosta was in shambles, flames were everywhere burning everything in its path. There wasn't any sign of anyone living or the sounds of screams, all there was are the sounds of the fire crackling. Debris had fallen, some were ablaze and others weren't licked by the flames itself. On a wooden ledge, a person dressed in a red suit with spiked up brown hair was slowly walking across with balance, white ribbons were flying through the air as he walked towards the fire. He stood in front of the fire and jumped up, vanishing inside the flames.

In another area near the ocean, a girl with long maple hair was running towards a small home seeking shelter from whatever was chasing her. Her blue eyes fell on the red orbs in her hands, staring at what was inside of the red orb. The orb was beautiful, not a single scratch or mark on the red orb as it glistened brightly, there was something inside but the girl couldn't identify it. She looked at the orb, amazed at the looks and beauty of it. The orb seemed to shine a bit from the inside causing her to stare at it even more with curiosity.

"There she is!" A voice cried from the distance, the girl's eyes went wide as she looked across to see a group of people holding swords after her. "Seize her! I'll follow Lloyd." One commanded, the girl took off running once more.

They began chasing her but there was a sound of a cry followed by something hitting a crate, the solders turned around. "What?!"

"Quickly! Get her, I'll handle this one." Another solder commanded.

A group of soldiers began running towards the maple haired girl as she tried to get away from them, holding the orb protectively.

_**With the high level of technological prowess, the Tethe'allan civilization looked down upon the people of Sylvarant as barbarians. The Sylvaranti blamed the Chosen of Regeneration for bringing this world into being, as they their backs on the Church of Martel that supported her.**_

_**Amidst all of this chaos, the world itself began to cry out.**_

_**Scorching hot deserts were blanketed with snow.**_

_** Bountiful lakes dried up and withered. **_

_**Forest burned to ash, as glaciers melted into the sea.**_

_**These phenomena fanned the flames of dissatisfaction within the hearts of the people, leading to the birth of a new monster. A resistance organization was formed by the oppressed people of Sylvarant to defend themselves. **__**United against the perceived evils of Tethe'alla and the Church of Martel, they called themselves the Sylvaranti Liberation Front...**_

_**The Vanguard.**_

"This way, hurry!"

A man called out as he turned around to look at the person who was following him and his wife, they both seemed exhausted from running through the city to find safety. "Emil, hurry! We must get away or we'll be all killed by Lloyd." He urged him as he tried to keep up with the group of people.

"Who did you say is going to kill you?" A voice caused them to stand up straight, fear crawled down their backs as they slowly turned around to the voice. Their mouths were gaping open as they stared at the man who was glaring down upon them. The man turned around with his wife behind his back. "Lloyd Irving!"

He stared at them coldly before reaching to his swords, he slowly drew them out. "The people of Palmacosta have aided the Vanguard and undermined the authority of the Church of Martel and the Chosen." His swords had a dangerous glint to them as the two of them could do nothing but star in horror.

"The punishment for this crime…"He growled out and jumped into the air, "Is death!"

The sound of a cry echoed in the city followed by a sword slash.

"Mom!"

"Emil, run! Get away from here!"

…

…

The girl ran to a brick wall, realizing she was cornered causing her to slow down. She turned around only to see the solders in masks cornering her with swords in their hands, they gathered around the girl as she slowly stepped back only for her eyes to widen as she felt her back hit the wall. She held the orb closely, "Help me. Help me, Ratatosk." She muttered out, there was no reaction until later when the orb began to shine brightly.

The light grew brighter and brighter until no one could see nothing but white.

The girl laid unconscious on the floor as something glowed at the corner of her head pulsing red.

"Are you alright?" A deep voice pulled her out from her dreams. She slowly raised her head, sitting up and turned to look at the person who had saved her.

A person with blond hair and emerald eyes was standing in a mass of fallen soldiers, he wore brown boots and a lab coat over his outfit. He slowly turned to the fallen girl as she held her head, his eyes seemed to look…void yet sad. She adjusted her eyesight, "Are you…the one who saved me?" The light on her forehead slowly died down as they stared at each other,

A howl echoed in the distance causing her to look around, "That's Tenebrae's howl…" The boy turned around, staring at the sky as if it had something…there. Like something was calling him, luring him somewhere else. "I have to go." He began walking off.

The girl turned to him, holding out her hand. "Wait! What's your name?" She called out but he continued walking, ignoring the girl as he slowly disappeared.

The boy continued walking until he reached upon two bodies unmoving on the cold floor, he just stared at them and slowly knelt down. The woman stirred, showing her green eyes as he heard someone close to her, "Emil…you came back…" She whispered, trying to gather her energy to move. "Oh dear, I can't even see your face."

She shook her head, "I-I'm not going to last much longer. But you, you have to live." She begged, raising her hand and grasped his leg, "You…You have to run before L-Lloyd comes back. Go to Luin. To your Aunt Flora."

Her hand slowly fell down as she began to fade away, "Hurry…" Was the last words she said before she went limp. He stared at his mother, "M-Mom…" He whispered out, holding a hand to the woman's body.

_"MOM!"_

…

…

Emil wandered aimlessly as he finally escaped out of Palmacosta. '_Go to Luin. To your Aunt Flora.'_ So he needed to go to Luin, to his aunt he had never seen before. They never did visited him before, did they? His heart clenched, remembering that now his parents were dead, all because of Lloyd Irving, that murderer. His sad look was replaced by anger at the thought of him. As soon as he managed to walk a good distance from Palmacosta, he saw something sprawled out on the road in front of him.

"Wha—? Who's that?" He jogged over to the person lying unconscious, his eyes widened as he realized it was a girl. He couldn't leave her on the ground, monsters would eat her. _"_Monsters_."_He shivered, hoping he wouldn't encounter one.

Carefully picking the girl up, he hoisted her to his back where he could feel her breathing normally. She was light, thankfully, but now he needed to find a place where she could rest.

Emil continued his trek to Luin, hoping to find someone to lead him the way. He felt the girl stir, "Are you awake?"

Her honey brown locks tickled his neck as she slowly raised her head, eyes bleary with sleep and exhaustion. "Where are you from?" He asked again, the girl opened her mouth. "…As…gard…" She managed to speak, her voice raspy. Emil nodded his head, so first to a city called Asgard then Luin.

She felt the girl's grip slowly fading, she leaned closely to him as she whispered.

"I…thank you…"

* * *

_Earlier before…  
__**Palmacosta**_

* * *

It was a beautiful morning in Palmacosta, the sky was bright blue with only a few clouds in sight. It was a perfect time to go out and do something productive…for most people that would be the perfect choice. But if you were Lillian Adamant then it would be a perfect day to sleep in, never leaving the comforts of your bed.

Inside a home somewhere in the city slept a girl around sixteen years of age, her usually tamed honey brown hair was now attacked by the angry pillow gnomes creating a bed head which could put a nest to shame. She wore a simple white shirt and some trousers with a blanket lazily draped against her waist, a trail of drool trailed against her cheek. A dull red necklace was around her neck, pressing against the pillow. A knock was heard from the wooden door. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" A voice giggled from behind the door.

A groan was heard from the sleeping girl as she pulled her covers over her head, "Five more minutes." She mumbled.

"No sirry, it's time to get up since it's a beautiful day! Don't waste it on sleeping." Another knock followed, Lillian groaned before reluctantly sitting up from her bed with a loud yawn. She stretched her arms into the air before rubbing a sleepy tear from her eyes.

Kicking the bed sheets off her body, she stretched a bit before resuming yawning again. With a drowsy look, she walked into her bathroom and began doing her personal business that included taming her wild bed hair. A few minutes later, she left her bathroom with her hair finally tamed with a blue headband with a ribbon near her ear. She stretched once more before taking off her clothing and changing into her more personal clothes that her father gave her for her sixteenth birthday.

It was a white sleeveless collared shirt with silver buttons, small blue frills were at the ends of her shirt and where her sleeves were supposed to be, blue shorts that ended above her knees, blue heeled shoes with golden rings around her ankles, and blue detached sleeves with white frills. Lillian wondered why frills in her outfit but maybe it was her father's personal touch since he adored his daughter way too much and wanted her to be girly.

With a last look, she left her room and went to the dining room where her best friend was preparing breakfast. She had short blonde hair and green eyes with her trademark green hat on her head, she turned around and smiled brightly. "Morning, Lily! Auntie Malia is out shopping so I'm in charge of cooking. "

Lillian yawned once more, "Morning, Bell…" She plopped onto her seat. At that moment, a white wolf with odd golden patters on his forehead trotted inside with a nonchalant expression before settling himself near Lillian. "Good Morning, Lady Lillian."

The honey brown haired girl glanced at the wolf, "Morning, Ash…" She sighed loudly, "I'm still sleepy, ugh."

Bell giggled, passing out breakfast to her friends. A plate with pancake for Lillian and a bowl of meat for Ash, it was a daily routine for the blonde haired girl to make some breakfast for her friends living in her home. They had been living her ever since Lillian's father left on a journey around the newly merged world.

Lillian began digging into her freshly cooked food happily, stuffing her face down with the food. She was well-known to have a big appetite, eating way too much despite her short stature, must be her metabolism or something. A sigh was heard from Ash, "Lady Lillian, don't eat too quickly or you might choke."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh don't worry, I won't choke. Choking are for losers." Suddenly she began coughing loudly, pounding her chest from the sudden blockage of her airway. It was Ash's turn to roll his eyes, Bell quickly went over to the choking girl with a glass of water in hand. Lillian took it and began gulping it down in one swing.

"I thought I was going to die for a second." She placed the glass next to her plate then sending her friend a grateful smile. Bell sat across her best friend and began eating her food as well, her green eyes noticed her usual red necklace. "Oh, are you going to upgrade that necklace someday?"

Lillian looked down, "Nah, I rather keep it this way. It has been with me ever since I was only a baby after all." She touched her necklace before popping another piece of her pancake into her mouth. "It's pretty old looking but it's weird, it's shiny but dull. How does that even happen?"

Bell giggled, "You took care of your necklace. In my opinion, it looks really pretty!"

She mused for a moment, staring at her necklace. It had always been with her ever since she was a baby so it became her lucky charm, when she would have doubts or conflicted thoughts she would look at her necklace for awhile and it would give her the courage she needed. It might look rather dull but it was really important to her, she knew that it was a really beautiful pendant before since it was still pretty despite being dull looking.

"Did you prepare your clothes for our trip back to Asgard tomorrow?" Bell's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, Lillian took a moment to compose herself.

"Yep! And did you collect ingredients for cooking during our trip in the morning?" She eyed her best friend who nodded her head, "Yep, I—" The words died on her lips as something suddenly struck her. Lillian knew that look anywhere. _She forgot, didn't she?_

Silence loomed in the house for a moment, hands were suddenly slammed onto the table as Bell stood up in a flash. The chair went shrieking as Bell held her cheeks in shock, "I-I forgot! Oh my gosh, I really forgot!"

Lillian sighed and shook her head. _I knew it. _

Her best friend, Bell was a well-known forgetful person with a flighty attitude. She had the tendency to think of herself lower than Lillian or her fiancé Elliot since she didn't have a goal in mind but she was very bubbly and cheerful which made Bell so carefree. It was understandable why Elliot fell in love with his childhood friend, she was the sweetest girl that could ever exist in the world.

The blonde haired girl quickly ran to her best friend, hugging her tightly as she cried loudly. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, Lily. I'll make it up to you and get them right now!" With that, she quickly tried to leave her home only to Lillian to grab her shirt. "Whoa there, Belladonna. You can't go now, you dummy."

Bell looked at her with a kicked puppy look, "Bu-But, but!"

"Don't worry, I'll get them in the afternoon. It's late morning already and we need to do our chores, right? You'll handle shopping and I'll handle cleaning." She stood up, picking up the plates and dumping them on the sink. Bell lowered her head, staring at the wooden ground. "…I'm sorry, Lily."

Lillian waved her hand, "Eh, it's fine. Ash, you'll help me find some ingredients, right?"

The wolf nodded his head, "As you wish, Lady Lillian."

The honey brown haired girl groaned loudly, "Please, call me Lily. I've told you this again and again! Saying my name sounds way too formal for my tastes." She stuck out her tongue in disgust, Ash chuckled. "But it's very fitting to you, Lady Lillian. It has a nice ring to it."

She frowned, "Fine, call me Lillian…" She grumbled lowly, "It's so going to be awkward hearing my name. Way too formal."

Bell grabbed her sling bag, "I'm going shopping now, are you sure you'll handle cleaning the house until Auntie returns?" She looked over to her best friend who was washing the dishes. She nodded her head, "Yep, don't worry. Everything is under control!"

The short blonde haired girl bid her goodbye to both of them, she patted Ash's head before leaving the home and heading off to shop. Lillian quietly did the dishes by herself, often requesting the assistance of her guardian friend and handing him some duties he had to do.

Ash is great companion in her life, he was her mentor and helped her when she was in a pinch. Of course, her father requested Ash to watch her while he was away so he took his guardianship very seriously. He made sure she avoided fighting at all costs while he would handle all the battles with the monsters, Lillian wasn't _too _adapt on using her sword that her father bought for her in addition of her new clothes. Which reminded the girl…

Why exactly did her father decided to buy new clothes and a weapon for her birthday? Sure sometimes her clothes would end up in tatters when she left Asgard to collect things with Ash but it doesn't mean she needed new clothes and a weapon! Honestly, she has no clue on using the rapier-like sword thing. It looked like a rapier but the blade was thicker than most rapiers. It had a flowery design inside of the fancy metal works she would see when people carried rapiers.

But it was awesome that her father gave her a sword for her birthday…even though she wasn't good enough on using it like a professional. Ash had taught her to simple basics of swinging, thrusting, dodging, and blocking which was enough for her to survive if he couldn't be there but it wasn't enough for her to be a real pro. The only good thing about having a rapier-like sword and flexible clothing is because her main trait is her agility and flexibility.

Lillian placed the plates away and washed her hands, "Ash? Can you fetch me the broom?" She glanced over to the wolf who nodded his head and disappeared in one of the rooms.

Not a moment too later, Ash came trotting in with a broom in his mouth. With a mutter of thanks, she began sweeping the whole room before moving on to the living room. Ash helped arranging the whole room as well as aiding Lillian when she requested something from the other room. It was an everyday routine between the three of them, cleaning the whole house during the morning, do the laundry during noon, then free time throughout the day.

After sweeping every nook and cranny of the home (Since Auntie Malia was a clean-freak), she began working on the laundry which was upstairs. Lillian carried her load upstairs with Ash trotting behind holding soap and a washboard inside a bucket. Unlike those who lived in Tethe'alla before, the Sylvaranti people had more of the medieval lifestyle which Lillian enjoyed doing a lot but she did enjoy the Tethe'allan things she witnessed when her father took her on a trip once.

"Gosh, doing the laundry is so tiring." She sighed loudly, finally finished on washing the pile of clothes. All was left was to hang them in the breeze, "Sometimes I wonder if we should go and buy stuff from Tethe'alla but ugh, too expensive."

Ash nodded his head, taking the basket to the clothes line where Lillian followed behind. "The Tethe'allan look down onto those who had lived in Sylvarant before when the world was still at one. I assume if you were to purchase something over there, they might double the price."

The honey brown haired girl groaned loudly again, "Sweet Martel, that's just annoying. This is like with half-elves." She grumbled angrily, pulling out a cloth before thrashing it. "People and their discrimination, makes me want to punch them brutally!" She cried out, waving her the cloth in her fist wildly.

The white wolf just glanced at the girl as she ranted under her breath, "Other humans and half elves don't have the same insight as you since you _were _raised by a human mother and elf father."

"I know but I'm human, I was adopted by my parents and yet…ugh, it makes me mad! Stupid Desians, it's because of them that people are terrified of half elves in Sylvarant." She grumbled again, glaring at the cloth in her hands before thrashing it and hanging it over the clothes line. She took more clothes and began hanging them while grumbling under her breath, if anyone could hear her they could hear things like: "Stupid discrimination." Or "I'm going to murder."

She frowned. So what if she was raised by parents that had different races? That's just an excuse to look at half elves equally. People can look at everyone equally if they want but they just _don't want to_ and that annoyed her.

Discrimination was the worst thing that had ever existed in her opinion.

Clothes after clothes were being hanged until the last article was in her grasp, Lillian thrashed the cloth before hanging it along with the clothes. She wiped the sweat on her eyebrow before gathering the baskets and placing them to the side. She looked up to the sky and by the angle of the sun, it was still mid-afternoon.

"Lady Lillian, I will be waiting at the outskirts of Palmacosta. It's best to start now so that we will end at the evening or so." Ash looked up to his mistress who nodded her head, "Alright, see you there!" She patted her head as the white beast glowed brightly before disappearing in a flash of light.

How he was able to do that, she may never know.

The honey brown haired girl stretched her arms into the air as she stared around before inhaling the smell of the sea, the water was near her home. Actually, nearly all the homes of Palmacosta was surrounded by water so the smell of the sea could never fade away. Palmacosta is pretty big in her opinion compared to her hometown in Asgard, of course since it's a large city.

Lillian stretched her arms once more before descending downstairs, it's been…more than two hours and Bell hasn't return from her shopping, neither Auntie Malia. Pulling a piece of paper out from somewhere and a writing tool, she wrote out a small note,

_Auntie Malia and Bell,_

_I'm going to collect the ingredients outside of Palmacosta, might return late. Sorry for that!_

_-Lily_

She placed it on a table with the pen atop, the honey brown haired girl quickly fled to her room and grabbed the flower themed sword that was leaning against the closet. She placed it on her waist and took a bag from the table, she quickly left her home with the door slamming close and ran through Palmacosta.

Her home was in Asgard but she accompanied her best friend to visit her soon-to-be Aunt-in-law since she was engaged to their childhood friend Elliot who lived in Palmacosta. No one really expected the most careless girl and the most studious guy had fallen in love with each other, it was understandable why Bell had a crush on him since he _is _cute after all.

No one understood why Elliot returned the feelings. But it was pretty obvious in Lillian's opinion since her best friend had the cutest personality she had ever seen before. She was a natural airhead like Colette Brunel, the Chosen she had seen when they came through Asgard one time. They could be in par with their clumsiness but Bell outranked her by her stupidity on things.

* * *

Lillian passed through the exit of Palmacosta with a smile, she enjoyed going on little errands that requires her to leave the city no matter where they are plus she didn't get lost on the directions to the exit. _One of these days, I'll go on adventure to find my father…and force him to answer my question on why he keeps on leaving._

Her father had been wandering around leaving her in the care of Bell's guardians until Bell's parents died, she asked him why he was traveling but he would find a way to move to another topic.

It annoyed her that her father wouldn't tell but he always gave her gifts when he visited. She gave up on asking sweetly, she'll just tie him up and force the answer out.

"Seems like you're plotting something, Lady Lillian. Care to share your plot?"

The honey brown haired girl shrieked and nearly jumped ten feet into the air before whirling towards the voice, "You're going to give me a heart attack!" She growled at the offending wolf who rolled his eyes, "You don't pay attention to your surroundings. You must learn to pay attention to your surroundings in case of an ambush, usually, monsters on the prowl use this tactic on those who stand alone or with an ally. Do I have to lecture you the basics once more?"

Lillian waved her hands around, "No! You drilled it into me a few years ago…the memories." She shivered, memories of Ash's lessons fresh in her mind. He trotted past her, "You act like it's a horrible thing."

"Well it is!" She retorted back with a huff and walked alongside Ash. His tail swished around, he glanced back to her mistress. "Lady Lillian, where do you suppose we head to collect?"

She looked up thoughtfully, "Well…there's this really good place not far from Palmacosta. It's on the pathway to the Dynasty Ruins on the forest area." She took out her map she grabbed before leaving. She nodded her head with a smile, "Yep, on the Dynasty Ruins."

"Well then, I suppose you know basic swordplay? If you haven't forgotten."

She scoffed, "Sheesh, you have so little faith in me. It hurts my heart, you know." She patted her chest, Ash chuckled to himself. Lillian suddenly snapped her fingers, "You know what! I named my sword."

"You—what?" He turned around, his eyes wide as he stared at the sword she had strapped to her hip. She nodded her head, "Yep! It suddenly came to me when I took a bath, I suddenly yelled out 'MILLFIORE!' when I was thinking about my sword. Like isn't it fitting? It's all flower themed and Millfiore means a thousand flowers. Boom! Sudden creativity." She made sparkle hand motions.

Ash gave her a deadpanned stare. "What? It's brilliant! Come on, admit it." She shrugged.

The wolf just sighed and shook his head, "Let's just finish our errand, probably along the way I could teach you a few more tricks on swordplay." He trotted forward leaving Lillian to groan audibly, burying her face in her hands as she thought of Ash's usual harsh training he would give. Why was she supposed to suffer this?

As soon as they reached their designated spot, they began their search for the ingredients they had to find. It took them awhile before they could even find one third of the ingredients on the list she had created along the way, especially since Lillian was so distracted by the flowers and began making flower crowns which caused Ash to scold her until she returned to her errand only to be distracted once again. The cycle continued on and on until Ash gave up and allowed her to do her own business since they were practically halfway through.

"Look, look!" Lillian raised the flower crown up into the air for Ash to see, he was sitting on the crown next to a basket filled with the things they collected. Ash nodded his head, "It needs more flowers." He commented.

She stared at her flower crown, "Really? Dang." She began searching for flowers only to squeal as she dove to grab the flowers she spotted.

Ash glanced up at the sky, realizing it was already dark. The light particles he summoned to keep light was evidence that it was already late.

He stood up, "It's dark, we must return back to Palmacosta before monsters would start mass appearing." He gestured to the exit, Lillian looked up from her work and sighed. "Alright." She dropped the flower crown inside the basket before picking it up. She strapped the sword to her waist again with Ash trotting ahead.

"Stay alert." He warned as they maneuvered their way through the forest.

Lillian wordlessly nodded her head as she glanced around, it was really dark. The sun was almost gone meaning it was almost time for monsters to mass in the night, she placed a hand to her sword instinctively as she looked around. As soon as they left the forest untouched, she sighed out in relief and ran to keep up with the wolf as he continued down the path to Palmacosta.

He suddenly paused, Lillian turned around to look at her companion. "Hm? What's wrong, Ash?"

His nose was high in the air as he seemed to sniff, "…Odd…I smell the scent of scorched wood." He continued sniffing the air, Lillian looked around curiously. "Wood? Someone is making a fireplace?" Those usually happened during these times, travelers would start a fire to stay warm before they would continue with their travels. It was very common.

Ash shook his head, "No. It's too thick…too _bitter _for it to be a normal fireplace."

A sense of dread ran down her spine, "…Ash, let's head home. _Fast._" She turned her head and ran with Ash running behind. Why would there be a thickly scented smoke be in the air? Usually those happened when there was…

Lillian gasped as she stared at the fire burning in front of her. The flames dancing the air, reflecting against her eyes as she found herself unable to say a word…the scene was too horrific.

Palmacosta was in _flames. _The whole actual city was burning brightly with people escaping the burning city. "No…NO!" She cried out, dropping her basket as she ran through flaming city. Ash's eyes widened as he ran after the girl, "Lady Lillian!"

"Ash, find Bell!" She shouted to the wolf behind her, Ash continued running. "Lady Lillian—"

"That's an _order._"

Ash visibly flinched before bowing his head, "…As…As you command." With that, his body vanished into particles before disappearing into the air.

She ran through the city, looking around only to see fallen burning debris and charred houses. She paused and looked around, terrified on the wellbeing of her best friend and her aunt since they were in the city running errands. _Why did I have stay behind and work on those stupid flower crowns? _She scowled to herself, the feeling of guilt pooling in her stomach.

Lillian ran down the familiar pathway to her home only to see it in flames, everything burning brightly. Her mouth gaped open, "...Why?" She whispered. Why was Palmacosta burning? Where is Bell? Where is Auntie Malia? Where is everyone she knew?

She found unknown anger building up. Who would dare burn a city which was a second home to her? _Who?_

Lillian turned away from the burning home and ran, "Auntie Malia!" She shouted, looking around as she ran through another road, shouting the name of Bell's aunt-in-law over and over again. The woman was practically another family to her when all she had was her father, she taught her how to cook when she still failed and never gave up on teaching her. She gave her hope on being different than others…she loved her like she was her own aunt.

Tears threatened to rise up as she thought of the worst thing that could happen to both of them. She shook her head, "No, they're fine. They're fine…" She muttered to herself as she turned another road.

"Get her!" A voice shouted causing her to halt in her tracks, turning to the side she could see a girl with long maple hair running while holding this red…orb. The girl turned around to look at the people after her only to turn back and run even faster, at that moment, the sound of bells filled her ears.

Her eyes widened, _bells? What?_

"She's escaping! Quickly!" Another voice shouted as people holding swords were chasing after the maple haired girl. Her eyes widened, "Wha…?"

The girl looked like she was having a hard time, as if she was running away from them for a very long time. She placed a hand to her sword on her hip, she had promised Ash that she would never get into swordfights with others unless it was necessary since she wasn't that good at fighting, with her abilities she might get herself killed if she didn't fight properly. But…but this was a life at stake.

And that was a reason good enough for her to start running, her fist drawn back.

Her fist made contact with his jaw as he went skidding across the ground breaking a crate before he made contact with the building, knocking him out. _Oh god, yes. I knocked one out by luck!_ She mentally cheered at her achievement that she couldn't achieve before.

"What?!" One of the solders turned to look at the girl that suddenly knocked down on of their teammates to the floor.

"Quickly! Get her, I'll handle this one." Another solder commanded, holding his sword towards Lillian's direction. The solders nodded before chasing after the maple haired girl, Lillian stepped away from the fallen solder slowly drawing out her sword.

Lillian's gaze narrowed as she remembered her training with Ash.

_Be alert. Don't show any weaknesses._

She said to herself in her head as the solder swung his sword causing her to block the attack before it came into contact. He swung at her once more causing her to dodge but it grazed her skin, she winced at the pain as she counter attacked.

Her attacks were clumsy but good enough to go against a solder. By the uniform, they were part of the Vanguard. She noted. _Wait…aren't they supposed to be helping those who were from Sylvarant?_ She quickly dodged from an upcoming attack that broke her thoughts.

She cursed when the sword managed to land a hit on her again. _Ash is going to kill me. _She mentally shuddered.

She didn't enjoy killing people. Lillian killed people before when she was younger…which was a terrible experience after being kidnapped and Bell was going to be killed, it wasn't like she had a choice. Death terrified her after…after that incident she couldn't remember exactly. Monster deaths were okay but humans…she couldn't stand. Fighting them was one thing but killing them was another.

The fight dragged on, Lillian didn't know how long it has been but she couldn't even make him stumble. When the person swung his sword, she sidestepped only to realize an opening was there. She thanked Martel that her best quality on fighting was her speed, she moved forward and kneed his stomach as hard as she can then slamming the hilt of her sword to his neck, effectively knocking him out.

Lillian breathed hard as the man fell limp on the floor, she had a few cuts here and there but it wasn't life threatening. It hurts like hell and is still bleeding but not enough to actually kill her. "Thank you, Ash." She muttered to herself, sheathing her sword.

She looked around, "I-I should escape. Before more trouble would come." Lillian fled the scene before more solders or one of the solders she knocked out would regain consciousness.

Lillian ran through the streets of Palmacosta once more, this time determined to leave the burning city at once. She ran near the church and across the bridge only to come into a complete stop at the scene in front of her. Two people were on the floor in the puddle of their blood…not moving, not breathing.

She stepped back in shock, "…Wh-What the hell? Why would someone kill innocent bystanders? Heartless bastard…" She curled her hands into fists as she glared away from the bodies.

"Who," Lillian stiffened at the voice, that cold voice, "is a heartless bastard?"

The honey brown haired girl slowly turned around only to face a brown haired man wearing a red outfit, his brown eyes bore into her own causing her to tremble slightly. _They're…cold…_She instinctively stepped back. "…Lloyd Irving!?"

He just stared at her, holding his swords closely to himself. Lillian had only seen Lloyd when he and the Chosen passed through Asgard when she was fourteen and one thing she knew that Lloyd never had cold eyes. When she saw him, he had genuine child-like eyes filled with curiosity and innocence. But this Lloyd…this Lloyd standing in front of her had cold and dark eyes…they weren't Lloyd Irving's. They can't be…

"The people of Palmacosta have aided the Vanguard. You and its people have underestimated our power by going against us…" He stared down at the honey brown haired girl, his swords glinting dangerously.

She would pull out her sword in defense but…but the words of Ash echoed in her mind. _Do not fight battles you know you cannot win. Escape immediately, use any methods to escape or else you'll get yourself killed._

"Don't tell me…you were the one who caused this?!" She shouted in disbelief, Lloyd remained silent. "You…you heartless bastard! You killed innocent people!" She growled.

She knew that yelling at him would bury her own grave since fighting _the _Lloyd Irving who helped the Chosen of Regeneration and practiced swordsmanship for two or three years would mean instant death for her, a useless swordswoman without any proper training. She wasn't that reckless enough to see that. Lillian may have the reputation to make terrible decisions but this situation calls for her to make her immediate escape if possible.

"The punishment for that crime…is _death_." His voice was stern and cold, Lillian stepped back. "Wha…Death!?"

He slowly stalked towards her before starting to run, Lillian knew it was her time to escape.

Quickly, she hightailed out of there using her agility but Lloyd was a twin swordsman so his speed could practically match her own. "You can't escape!" He shouted after the girl, she mentally cursed to herself for taking the path that ran into those bodies then maybe…maybe she wouldn't encounter Lloyd.

Then again…she would have probably encountered Lloyd no matter what. _Dear Heavens above, I'm going to die.__  
_

She threw herself to the floor when he heard his swords slash into the air behind her, she rolled to the side and quickly swept her feet quickly causing him to fall to the cold ground. She used this distraction to run but she knew he could get up quickly but at least…she could run somewhere. _Somewhere._ She looked around and ran into a narrow alleyway to throw Lloyd off.

Lillian ran until she came into a stop as she realized she hit a dead-end. "…Crap…" She cursed silently as she turned around only for her to jolt when she saw Lloyd walking towards her dangerously. "Wha…how did you—?!"

Lloyd just stepped forward slowly, as if he was savoring the moment on killing her. She backed away slowly, instinctively holding the red necklace in her hands as if it would give her hope on this situation. Fear coursed through her veins but she swallowed it down, there was no way she was going to show her fear. No…she'll never show her fear.

She boldly glared at Lloyd as he moved closer and closer. She may look tough but in reality, she was too confused with the situation. Why was he murdering people? What did Palmacosta do? Her hands trembled but she held them down, holding her birth necklace closely to her.

"…Accept your fate. This is your punishment for choosing this decision." He spoke coolly, _too_ coolly. It was not normal.

She gritted her teeth, "You…whoever you are. I know, you aren't Lloyd! Because…because…he won't do this!" She retorted, Lloyd scoffed and stared coldly at her. "You're sorely mistaken then."

_No, I can't die. Not here. Not now! _She bit her lip, her hands trembling as she felt her fear fully taking her. Hysteria threatened to surface which would bring unpleasant memories but she held her necklace tightly. Her lucky charm. _Everyone__…_Dad_…_Bell_…_Elliot_…_

Lloyd held his swords up, poised to attack. _Anyone…please…Mom__…Mom!_

He jumped into the air, "Now DIE!"

_"SAVE ME!"_ She closed her eyes as she screamed, throwing her hands up to shield herself as suddenly a force field surrounded her body turning into some crystallized case.

Lloyd's eyes widened, "What!?" He jumped back only to see a magic circle spinning around her, before he could move to stop her concentration the earth began to rumble as a stalagmite suddenly burst forth from the ground. "Magic_…_" He muttered to himself "Is she_…_?!"

The appearance of Stalagmite cause Lloyd to stumbled backwards, more of those jagged rocks began appearing from the ground causing him to dodge each and every one of them. The rocks kept on appearing, more importantly, they surrounded the girl as if they were acting as her shield from him. The large one was in between them, slowly growing bigger and bigger.

His brown eyes flickered to the girl only to see nothing but just a shining light. The light began to die down, when the light completely vanished his eyes widened in shock. "It can't be…"

Lillian was gone.

* * *

All she could see was that weird bright light.

But as soon as it died down, all she could see was black and her energy suddenly ran dry.

Never in her life had she felt so tired before. Sure, doing her chores followed by Ash's training was completely and utterly tiring but for some reason, she felt so exhausted she passed out before she could realize what was going on around her. As soon as she tried to regain consciousness, she could feel the hard ground beneath her followed by footsteps. Everything in her mind was scrambled, it reminded her of Bell's specialty which was scrambled eggs.

Her eyes were shut tight, she couldn't open them at all. She didn't have the strength to even open her eyes, that's how tired she felt. She felt strong hands held her up before she felt strands of hair in her face and a back. Was she being carried?

Forcing herself to open her eyes, she stirred from her tired stupor only to find everything hazy and blurry. It reminded her of how she woke up, the first thing she noticed was this person had blond hair and…tanned skin. The person turned his head slightly but he couldn't see his eyes.

"Are you awake?" His deep voice made her slightly more aware. His voice…sounded cold at the same time sad. She didn't move, nor reply to his question, her mind was still jumbled to even form a reply or a conversation. Her throat felt dry, as if she was sleeping for over two weeks or even a month. "Where are you from?" He asked once more.

She blinked, trying to gather her thoughts together to reply. To talk at least. "…As…gard…" She managed to croak. Yes, Asgard. If Palmacosta is burned then…then maybe Bell and the others are at Asgard. He nodded his head and continued his way.

Lillian blinked before she mustered her strength as her consciousness was slowly slipping away. "I…Thank you…" She whispered until the world slowly faded black.

* * *

**A/N: I wonder who saved Lillian? Ahahaha it's too obvious clearly I'm horrible omg.**

**THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE LONGEST PROLOGUE/CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN IN MY LIFE HALLIUJAH. I think I can never do this again, idk it depends.**

**Well then, wait for the next chapter I guess! Please review because those are much more appreciated, all writers agree that reviews are better than favorites and alerts.**


	2. A World in Discord

**A/N: Guess what. Apparently it's canon that you'll become Richter if you wear his spare glasses. **

**(Warning: RM3 Spoilers)**

**These are the moments when I love Radiant Mythology 3, because the skits and reactions from the Tales characters to your descender are hilarious. Guy freaks out when you're a girl and Zelos shamelessly flirts with you if you're a girl. And as usual, Leon/Judas saves you when you pass out from using too much mana. Kanonno and I are best friends forever! And I also like the scene where Yuri, Asch, Emil, Tear, Colette, and Kanonno are eating…I think lunch? And Kanonno freaks cause she sees the documents of the food's life and slowly cries.**

**Yep. I love this game.**

**(-Spoiler Ends-)**

**Now away from my rambles.**

* * *

**Chapter one: The World in Discord**

* * *

"_**Ta pánta faínontai san epakóloutho enós efiálti."**_

_Blood spilled everywhere. Flames rising around as screams of people seemed to pierce the eerie night, smoke clouded the clear night hiding the bright red moon shining high into the air. The sounds of metal clashing against one another with magic chants seemly echo endlessly on into the fiery abyss of death. Everything sparked with different colors that was once considered beautiful and now looks cruel._

_People fell against one another as the sounds of flesh being speared through wouldn't end. It was terrifying. Everything was burning and dying, the sounds of people crying and sobbing mingled with the shouts and cries of people who had died._

"_STOP IT!" A voice screams. "MAKE IT STOP!"_

_No one seemed to listen, ignoring it as if they never heard that voice cry out. Maybe it was because…no one was there, crying out those words._

_Near the fire a silhouette of a girl was dancing around a large fire in the middle of the city where the war seemed to rage. The outlines of the person looked like a girl with long straight hair, seemly reaching to her knees with an odd ornament adorning her head. She was wearing a knee-length dress with a long scarf around her arms, moving along the wind as she raised her arms in coordination to her feet as she twirled and swayed her body in front of the fire._

_No one seemed to care to see a girl dancing but continued to run, scream, and murder one another._

_The smoke in the air made its way towards the girl surrounding her but she didn't seem fazed, she just continued dancing. The smoke made its way like a stream, slowly morphing into wings around the girl's back. It wasn't attached to her back but was attached to her at the same time, the wings seemed to flutter slightly as she twirled around once more. _

_Her arms were moving in a fluid motion, as if she was controlling something, she continued to dance through the war between the people. _

_The girl slowly toppled over, losing balance as she came crashing to the ground on her knees. Her head was bowed down as the wings behind her back lowered slightly, as the war came it suddenly disappeared in a blink of an eye leaving her all alone in the burning village with blood spilled all around. Bodies of those who had died were still on the ground, some hanged, some leaning against the buildings. The girl suddenly covered her face, her body trembling as her wings lowered even more. Everything slowly faded into black._

"_**Ta pánta faínontai san epakóloutho enós efiálti."**_

_An anguish scream echoed in the darkness._

* * *

Lillian snapped her head up in cold sweat, her body trembling in fear of the unknown. The dream replayed itself in her mind, she had to furiously shake her head to get rid of those disturbing images that made her skin crawl. She could still remember the sounds of blood being spilled, the cries of the people, and shouts—

She pinched herself to gain composure. Did the incident with Palmacosta and Lloyd still haven't left her head all these months? The incident—now called the Blood Purge, was a foggy time. She couldn't remember what happened exactly during then, but she knew clearly that Palmacosta was on fire and Lloyd was about to kill her.

His cold brown eyes were still in her mind, it was filled with malice yet humor sparkled in them, did he find killing people _entertaining_?

She didn't know, all she wanted to know was why did he attack Palmacosta? Why did he murder people? She found anger boiling in her veins, Auntie Malia had _died _during then and almost Bell. He needed to suffer for what he had done.

_But was he really Lloyd Irving?_

That thought always pop into her head every time she tried to think maliciously towards Lloyd. Sure, she had saw him during his journey of Regeneration as part of the Chosen group. He was different then, childish, happy, cheerful, excited, and naïve.

Yet the Lloyd she had met was cold, indifferent, cruel, and had no second thoughts of killing someone. So was he really _the _Lloyd Irving?

The honey brown haired girl just sighed, wiping the cold sweat away from her forehead. There was no sense on dwelling it if she didn't have the correct answers, especially when people say he's good and others say he's bad.

She'll just interrogate him when she saw him, if he did it then he'll be sorry for laying a hand on Palmacosta. If not then…she'll _murder _the person who would frame Lloyd and murdered people in Palmacosta, including Auntie Malia.

The sweat she had slowly dried away by the warm air of Luin. She was in Luin for a couple of days visiting a family friend, namely the Mayor of Luin. Aside from visiting she was also here for researching about Lloyd Irving and the Vanguard. The Vanguard was those strange people wearing masks and was chasing after that girl she had never seen, also the people whom she had fought with and managed to knock them felt pretty proud of herself to be able to do that.

Lillian noticed she had fallen asleep on top of her notebook with writings and drawings, a brown blanket draped around her shoulders. Around her was piles of books, both open and closed. She furrowed her eyebrows in thought, her nose scrunching up as she tried to think. "Now why would I be sleeping here instead of resting on my bed?"

She placed a hand on her chin, "Oh yeah, I was researching late at night. Guess I had fallen asleep." Suddenly she buried her face into her hands, "I should stop falling asleep in random places. Did Uncle gave this to me?" Lillian pulled the blanket closer to herself, closing her eyes as she sighed happily. "This is really cozy."

Lillian stood up and did small warm-ups to stretch her body. After feeling rather energized, she walked over to the window and pushed it open with a giggle. She could feel the warm air of Luin, it was too windy like with Asgard before.

The winds there was oddly strong over there that it cause Bell to trip and fall over plenty of times, she lost count on how many times the wind made her fall over to the ground with either her and Elliot catching her before she actually fell. Bell was light…but they didn't expect the wind to be that strong to make her fly, it managed to carry Lillian and Elliot before.

"What a wonderful day to sleep," She commented to herself before scowling, "Too bad I can't…stupid nightmare."

The images returned to her head causing her to shiver. It oddly made her terrified, plus her fear for killing people made it much worse since it brought back unpleasant memories. She shook her head again, _Go away. Go away, go away. _The voice in her head came out like a chant.

A loud howl pierced the air causing her thoughts to break as she looked up quickly, her eyes wide at the sound. "…Ash?" She found herself muttering.

Strange, was Ash here? In Luin? _Odd, I specifically told him to stay with Bell so she wouldn't hurt herself. Ash would never disobey my orders…even though I hate ordering him around. _She turned around, grabbing her sword and strapping it to her waist. When she turned around again to head downstairs, she bumped into a strong figure causing her to flinch in shock. She looked up only to see green eyes locked into her misty blue ones, she yelped in surprise and backed away.

"I'm sorry!" She cried out, instantly bowing. "I didn't see you there…um, do you need anything Mister? Uncle—I mean the mayor isn't in right now so if you need him then please come back later."

"Uncle? Are you related to the Mayor of Luin? I didn't hear he had a niece around." He raised an eyebrow, she shook her head. "No. My father is great friends with the mayor and he insisted that I called him Uncle when I was small so it just stuck." She shrugged, "I can relay a message to him if you want, Mister."

He paused for a moment before shaking his head, "It's fine. I'll come back later."

"Okay, Mister! I'm Lillian Adamant, call me Lily please. It's nice to meet you." She smiled politely.

He nodded his head, "Likewise, I'm Richter Abend." He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "Tell me, Lily. Have you seen a girl with a red jewel on her forehead?"

Lillian furrowed her eyebrows in thought, placing a hand on her chin. "A girl with a red jewel on her forehead…hmm, nope. Sorry Mister Richter, but I haven't seen a girl like that before. If possible, I can tell you where she is if I see her."

Richter nodded his head, "Thank you for your help."

"No problem! Well, I better get going." She eyed the stairs, "It was nice knowing you, Mister Richter. I hope we'll be friends sooner or later."

Lillian waved before descending down the stairs leaving Richter behind, she waved goodbye to the people downstairs before heading out. She inhaled the smell of Luin with a smile before stepping out into the City of Hope, she stretched her arms into the air.

"A girl with a red jewel on her forehead…where in her forehead exactly? In the middle? In the side?" She began thinking, "Wait, how does one even have a _jewel_ on their forehead? Does that hurt?" She looked down to the ground with a serious expression.

_Ouch._ She thought on the process on doing that, would it be the same as an exsphere then? Then is the red jewel an exsphere? But…it was red. So maybe not?

She walked in a random direction, "A girl with a red jewel on her forehead…gotta keep a look out for girls like that. Maybe it's important since Richter went to visit the mayor, why include the mayor when he's searching for someone?" Her mind began reeling, thinking of all the possible reasons. "Maybe the girl is his good friend? Or lover? Or daughter? Or…nah, he wouldn't capture her or try to kill her. Richter looks very nice…despite his cold exterior."

Lillian allowed her mind to wander. _Cold exterior, huh…reminds me of someone._ "Oh yes, I need to find the source of that howl—ack!" And for the second time, she bumped into someone but thankfully the person didn't have a strong build like Richter but she stepped back nonetheless. "I'm so—"

"I'm terribly sorry!" A voice cried out, she looked up to see a boy with blond hair and green eyes looking worriedly at her. He held up his hands as if she was going to attack him, she shook her head with a sheepish smile. "S'okay, no harm done. I didn't see where I was going, ahaha. Sorry…"

He looked at her meekly, Lillian furrowed his eyebrows as she stepped closer to him with her eyes narrowed together in thought. "Um…have we met?" She began walking around him with her eyes squinting.

He flinched and watched her as she walked around with a thoughtful expression. Her hand was on her chin as she looked him up and down, he felt rather embarrassed with the sudden attention. "Uh, I—I don't know, um. I'm sorry." He bowed his head, Lillian giggled and stood in front of him. "It's okay, you just look familiar. I might be wrong sometimes anyways, no worries."

She gave a bright smile, "I'm Lillian, Lillian Adamant. Please call me Lily."

"Ah, I—er, I-I'm Emil Castagnier."

She stared at him. _Emil Castagnier? Isn't he the 'Vanguard loving brat'? The 'Lloyd Hater'?_ She looked at him, _I expected a cold person who ignores everyone and hates them for no apparent reason. A rude person if everyone hates him so much but…he looks so timid, too timid._ Emil looked down, especially with her look of recognition. Did she hate him as much as everyone does?

"Emil Castagnier, huh. Where are you headed?"

"Um, t-to the fountain."

She looked around and noticed a fountain not too far ahead, Lillian nodded her head. "Mind if I come with you, Emil?" She gave a grin. His eyes widened, "Ar-Are you sure? With me?"

The honey brown haired girl shrugged, "Why not? Going around Luin is boring without a friend to chat with. Um, is that okay? Being a friend, that is." She scratched her head, "Sorry if I'm being forward and all. It's understandable if you don't want to be my friend, honest. We just met like a few minutes ago and I'm sometimes blunt and I talk too much, oh and—"

"…It's fine."

Lillian did a double-take, "Huh?"

Emil scratched his head, "I-It's fine if you'll be my friend. I really…don't have much friends, no one really likes me. But are you sure you want to be my friend? I mean, I'm weak…and spineless, and can't—" Lillian held up her hand with a frown, "Don't think so lowly of yourself! Even though we've met a few minutes ago, I just know you're an amazing person okay? Don't say horrible things, have some self-respect at least."

He looked down, "I-I'm sorry."

"Chin up, Emil and there's no need for you to apologize. Don't doubt yourself, don't worry we'll be best friends. I'll be your friend until the end." She gave a smile before looking up seriously, "…Did I accidentally rhyme?"

Agh. She hated it when that happens.

His green eyes stared shockingly at her, did she scolded him? Or gave him a speech? He didn't know, but he felt a warm feeling inside of his chest since he had someone…_someone _who became his friend. His very first friend, a small smile appeared on his face. "Th-Thank you." He stuttered out with a grateful look.

She flashed a smile, "No problem. And because we're friends make sure you call me Lily! Aside from not liking my full name, my friends get to call me Lily. Though there is this one person who calls me Lillian no matter what…" She scowled. Emil seemed to chuckle at her words and her expression, "A-Alright, Lily. Um…should we go to the fountain?"

"Okay, lead the way!" She pointed following Emil from behind.

Emil nodded and smiled to himself. He finally had a friend to be with. He actually has someone who likes him. He somewhat felt proud of himself that he didn't ran away from her, since Lillian is now going to be his first friend and maybe his best friend then he'll protect their friendship.

No matter what…because Lillian is the first person to actually accept him.

* * *

When both Emil and Lillian passed by the fountain they noticed two people surrounded the fountain bowing to the statue of Lloyd Irving slowly. She watched them curiously, "…They really do like worshipping Lloyd. I wonder how he feels about this…" She pondered for a moment. _It's like a couple of die-hard fans to Lloyd, the maybe murderer. _She was still reluctant to speak about Lloyd so kindly at the same time she wasn't. She had mixed feelings about him.

Emil snarled at the statue, "…Lloyd," He spat, glaring at the statue before looking away and began walking. Lillian blinked and followed behind, "…Emil? Are you alright—?"

"Hey, Emil! We saw that!"

The both of them turned to see twins stalking towards them with pride. Lillian furrowed her eyebrows, _Are they the twins? Uh…Dada? Didi? No…Dida and…uh…Molly? No, Moll...Yeah, Dida and Moll. _Moll stepped forward with a haughty look, "Bow down to Lloyd the Great!" He pointed at Emil, any closer and he might be poking his chest.

He looked nervous at their sudden appearance, "I…I already did." He said quietly, Dida and Moll had been bothering him every since weird things started happening and he was...he was too scared to stand up to them.

"No, you didn't!" They both shouted out to Emil causing him to flinch again, Lillian felt herself getting angry for some reason. Another thing she hated was people who bullies other people, it just made her angry when people would bother others without caring about their feelings, flinging insults here and there.

"Lily, why are you with this guy?" Dida turned to Lillian who took every will of herself to not glare or knock his lights out. She visited Luin often and she was good friends with the mayor so some of the people who live here knew her.

He turned to Emil, "You don't like Lloyd the Great, don't you?" He growled.

"That's why you're trying to destroy our city! Because Lloyd returned it to its former beauty!" Molly joined in, accusing Emil of something Lillian didn't understand. She narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean destroy Luin?"

"Ye-Yeah, what are you talking about?"

They growled, glaring at Emil instead of Lillian. "Don't act dumb!" Moll pointed at him, Dida looked at him in a haughty way. "Ever since you came here, Lake Sinoa's dried up. And there are more monsters!"

Lillian stepped forward, boldly glaring at them. "Hey! Emil did nothing wrong, the reason why monsters are appearing isn't his fault!" She growled, Moll seemed to flinch at her glare but returned to accusing Emil. "Yes it is! Those monsters are his friends I bet, you're trying to get your monster friends to attack the town, aren't you?!"

He shook his hands around while shaking his head, "O-Of course not!"

"Okay, then prove it!" Dida said,

"What?"

Moll joined in pointing at him, "Swear your allegiance to Lloyd the Great right now!" Dida nodded his head, joining in with the finger pointing, "If you do that then we'll believe you!"

They both glared at Emil, "Come on, let's hear it!"

Lillian growled, "You can't force someone to swear allegiance to person they don't like! Stop bothering him!" She held out her arm in front of Emil, the twins stared at her before looking at each other then back at Emil. "I knew it, you brainwashed Lily into thinking that what you are doing is good!"

"Wha—?!"

Emil shook his head, "N-No! I'm not!"

"Then swear your allegiance to Lloyd the Great right now!" They smirked triumphantly.

He had no choice, Lillian growled as Emil turned to face the statue of Lloyd with his head bowed down. Moll and Dida tauntingly placed their ears close to him as Emil just stared down at the statue's plaque with a growl, Lillian balled her hands into fists as Dida spoke up. "What's the matter?" He taunted.

"Swear it!"

Lillian daringly stepped forward, fully glaring with a growl. "Hey, you basta—!"

"No, I won't!" Emil voice made her froze, she turned to the meek blond who suddenly found confidence in himself. "Lloyd killed my parents and I'll never swear allegiance to that murderer!" He swung his arms to and fro as he shouted furiously at the twins.

They stepped back at his sudden confidence, even Lillian had to step back in surprise. She really didn't expect Emil to actually fight back but she felt proud, she mentally cheered at the sudden confidence that Emil had founded by himself. He hung his head as the twins took awhile to gain composure.

"Hey, we heard that!" Dida shouted angrily, Moll followed suit. "So that's how you really feel, huh?"

The new found confidence suddenly vanished as Emil started to look fearful, "N-No, that's not what I meant to say."

Dida growled, "Shut up you monster!" Moll stepped up in front of Emil, "We'll teach you a lesson!" With that, they shoved Emil to the ground hard.

_Snap._

That was Lillian's patience finally snapping apart. She glared harshly, her fingers twitching as she turned to them with cold, indifferent eyes that made the twins had to flinch at the sudden coldness that replaced her usual blue cheerfulness. She cracked her knuckles, "Do you know what happens to bullies who bother my friends? They receive a trip to the infirmary for weeks. Would you like that?" She found herself smiling innocently despite the fiery aura she had.

They didn't answer, instead they feared for their lives as they managed to get into Lillian's bad side. The girl was all sugar and rainbows most of the time with a strange sense of humor but her bad side…her bad side was frightening even the mayor had to cower every time she was in a terrible mood. Her fury contained a thousand angry Cruxis Angels, it was always the cheerful ones that had the most frightening bad side.

She growled, "I'm going to shove my sword up your behind to the point you can't walk straight! I might be kind and instead rip out your throat, shove it down your throat, then rip it out again!" She nearly tackled Moll if it weren't for another voice to cut her off from her death threats she was going to execute. _What's with it with people and cutting me off?! _She had to think that, despite the situation. She had to.

"Get lost!" Lillian had to whirl around, she heard that voice before. She knew that voice. Her eyes widened at the familiar red hair, "Mi-Mister Richter?" She found herself whispering, Emil was being pulled up by Richter.

The twins' eyes widened, "Who the hell are you?"

When Emil finally stood up, he didn't make eye contact with him nor anyone else except the ground. Richter glared at them, "I said go!" Lillian followed suit, glaring at the twins.

"_Move it!_"

With that, the twins cowered and ran away from the angry duo. Lillian, being an overly caring friend, ran to the side of her new friend and inspected him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? If you are tell me, I'll stab them when they sleep!" She declared.

Emil shook his head, "I-I'm fine, thank you for worrying Lily." She smiled, "What are friends for?"

He gave a small smile before turning looking back at the ground, "Um…I, um…" Slowly, he looked up to Richter. He seemed to stare at his face for a moment, a sense of recognition flashed in his eyes. "You. You are…"

"Umm…yes?" He tilted his head, Richter didn't answer but continued staring at him.

Emil flinched, Lillian stared at Richter for awhile. _Does he know Emil for somewhere?_ His eyes suddenly turned cold and hard, it made her feel uncomfortable. "Never mind. You know, you should stand up for yourself." He looked down at Emil before leaving them behind.

Lillian held out her hand, "Ah, wait!" She called out but she was too late, he was walking away for him to ear. "He didn't hear me…"

"I…I was too scared to even thank him for that." He watched Richter go, his green eyes slowly turned sad. "M…Maybe that's why I haven't been able to make any friends." He hung his head, Lillian just watched him feeling terrible.

_Damn the people of Luin, treating someone like this. _She mentally glared at everyone that could have possibly made Emil this way.

Are the people of Luin this cruel to Emil because of rumors? Because of misunderstandings? Just because he hates Lloyd doesn't mean he's evil and wants to destroy everyone dammit! He had feelings too! She faced Emil, "Don't say that…You became my friend didn't you? And I became yours because you _wanted _to and I wanted to. You should stand up for yourself, do what you want because it's your life and no one can stop you." She grinned.

Emil looked up to her, "…Stand up for myself." He slowly smiled, "You're both right, I should thank him for helping me out the way he did. That's what I'll do!"

"Exactly! Now where do you suppose he went? He went thata way, right?" She pointed at the area where Richter left, Emil nodded his head. "Yeah…let's go."

They followed the footsteps of Richter only to spot the red head staring at a statue of Raine Sage. Emil went forward with Lillian on the tow, she expected finding Richter a hard task but actually it was pretty easy since his red hair stuck out like a sore thumb. She didn't notice it before but Richter looked like he was a fighter, probably a swordsman or something like that. _I wonder if he's an elf or half-elf._

It would make sense if he lies about his heritage if he was a half-elf since everyone doesn't like half-elves except for a few elves and humans.

She was one of those who accepted half-elf, she briefly glanced at Emil. _Does he hate half-elves like the others?_ She wondered.

Her thoughts were cut short when they stood in front of Richter who was staring at Raine Sage's statue. They both looked at each other and nodded their heads before staring back at Richter, he felt two pairs of eyes staring at him causing him to turn his head and glance at them. "What is it?"

Emil seemed to flinch, backing away and avoiding his eye contact. Lillian lightly pushed him, "Come on, Emil. Say what you gotta say or you'll have regrets!" She whispered to him, Emil hesitated for a moment. He didn't speak up, probably thinking what to say to Richter.

Richter didn't fully turn to look at them, "If you have nothing to say, then I have something to ask you."

"Uh…o-okay…"

He turned his head to fully look at them, "So they say that your name is Emil. Well Emil, have you seen a girl around here with a red jewel on her forehead?"

His eyes widened slightly, "What? I—um…uh, no, sir." He shook his head. Richter turned to look at Lillian, "Did you find her yet, Lily?"

Lillian blinked before gasping as she realized that he was talking to her, "O-Oh, um…nope. Sorry Mister! I promise I'll try my best to find her! Right Emil?" She turned to smile at her friend, Emil nodded his head. "Y-Yeah…"

Richter raised an eyebrow at Emil, "What are you so nervous about?"

He looked even more down, Lillian wanted to say something but couldn't. "I—uh…" He started again.

The red haired man finally turned around, looking directly at Emil. "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality." He slowly looked off into the distance, "They're words a human with few screws loose said long ago."

"When you refused to swear allegiance to Lloyd, didn't you feel courage welling up inside of you?" Emil glanced up to look at Richter, Lillian wanted to slap herself for not bringing her notebook. She'll write this down, she will write whatever he said down in her notebook. "Those who would grovel and beg, or run away at the first sight of another's anger are dogs. Or even worse. Are you a dog? Or are you really a man?" Richter looked over to Emil who eyes were lowered in thought.

He noticed that Richter was staring at him for an answer causing him to flinch slightly, his eyes lowered once more as he looked away. "I-I'm…uh…" He stared at the floor, thinking about himself and his words. Lillian held out her hand but Richter's stern look on her made her freeze, as if he was telling her that he needed to learn on his own. She furrowed her eyebrows, _Emil…needs to learn how to stand up by himself. But…but it hurts watching him feel so conflicted…_She gazed sadly on Emil.

Richter turned back to Emil, chuckling. "Heh, just try to do your best to be a man, Emil." He walked off with Lillian watching him as he went, Emil just stared at him before looking back at the ground. "Courage. The magic that turns dreams into reality."

Lillian stared at the sky for a moment, "Courage huh…when courage is there, you have hope…" She trailed away, "That's a nice quote."

Emil looked up at Lillian, the girl looked back and smiled. "Hey, Emil! Can we hang out a little longer? Wander around Luin and have fun, oh! Maybe we could find secret things in Luin that no one saw before!" She found herself thinking up different possible activities they could do.

He blinked before nodding his head, "S-Sure, Lily." Slowly, he looked more confident. "Where would you like to go?"

The honey brown haired girl shrugged, "Anywhere that's fun and interesting." She eyed Emil, "Seems like he made a big impact on your life, Emil."

Emil hesitated before looking to the place where he left, "That guy was really amazing." He suddenly looked serious, like Richter would look. "'Are you a dog? Or are you really a man?', I could never say something like that to anyone. They'll only get angry at me."

She raised a finger, "That's because you need to put more emphasis on the word, sometimes make it sound like your mad. For example," She coughed for a moment before suddenly raising her fists, "You bastards! Are you a filthy dog?! Or are you a worthless man?!" She shouted then returning to her normal demeanor with a hand on her chin, "Or something like that. Then again…they'll get mad if you're too harsh."

Emil's eyes lit up, "Er…wait. Maybe I should have gotten angry at him."

The girl began laughing hard, "You're right, we should go find him and get angry at him." She began laughing even more earning a kicked puppy look from Emil, she shook her head. "S-Sorry but you can't get mad at someone who told the truth or gave you advice, Emil. It means you don't want to accept his or her criticism, you see."

"Really?"

"Yep,"

Emil nodded his head in understanding, "Okay, I understand. So I'm not suppose to get mad at him now but later on?"

A sigh was heard from Lillian as she did a facepalm, "…No, I mean—agh, never mind. You'll just learn it the hard way." She shook her head. The blond looked confused at her words but brushed it off later on when Lily grabbed his wrist, "Okay, now let's go! Onward!"

"W-Wait! Aren't I supposed to lead?"

"Oh yeah…but what's over there? I've only been in Luin for a few days, I visited sometimes but I can't remember exactly where everything is. Sometimes I have the memory of a goldfish." She pointed to the bridge left of the building where she just came out from before if you face it. She walked over to the bridge with interest with Emil following after her.

A howl pierced the air once more causing them to freeze and turn to the sound, Lillian's eyes widened as she turned to look to the direction of the howl. "That howl…" She mumbled. _It…it really reminds me of Ash. Ash? Are you over there or…?_

Emil walked towards Lillian, "It sounds like it coming from the lakebed."

"Lakebed? Lake Sinoa's lakebed?" She turned to look at Emil who nodded his head. Her misty blue eyes turned back to look at Lakebed in the distance. _Lake Sinoa. It's outside of Luin…What should I do? I want to know if it's Ash but, I can't leave Luin without Uncle's permission. Plus…he'll get mad if I leave._

The howl echoed once more, they both looked up. "What could it be?" Emil muttered.

She looked down to her feet. _What could it be? Is Ash possibly…no, he can't. He's kind, sometimes snarky but he wouldn't act like any other monsters._ She looked up back to the lake, "…I just know it."

"Know what?"

Lillian shook her head, "No, it's nothing. Say, Emil…why don't we go and check it out?" She turned look at the wide-eyed Emil, he blinked. "Wh-What? Are you sure…? They're monsters and I might…"

"I know, I have a sword! Don't worry, and if you're in trouble then I'm in trouble too. I can't go out of Luin without permission you see…but I really, really want to know." She looked back to the lakebed, she felt the wind slowly brushing against her skin. "…I really do."

Emil hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding his head, "I-If you're going then…then I'll come too." She looked shocked honestly, Emil would really come with her to the lakebed? Even though there are monsters? She found a smile slowly appearing on her face.

She closed her eyes and smiled, "Thank you…you're really a great friend, Emil."

The blond nodded his head, "T-Thanks…"

Lillian turned back to lake, her eyes hardening._If it's really you Ash then…then…I need to stop you._

_Because that's what friends do. Show your mistakes and be there to fix them._

* * *

**A/N: Aaaand Chapter one, done! I was going to add more but it was going to get even longer and longer and I want this to be a long story. Yes, I will be adding skits and also my own personal skits I will make up along the way.**

**Titles…I wonder if they should be included.**

**Please review!**


	3. Sinoa Lakebed Troubles

**A/N: Here comes chapter two! I really, really, _really_ hate Alba since I have something against abuse. I nearly flipped when I realized he harms Emil. No one dares hurt my favorite character and gets away with it. **

**This is Mink all over again but I managed to forgive Mink in Re:Connect. (HOW DARE HE MAKE ME FORGIVE HIM)**

**Well then. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. If I did then Marta would have a plot twist on her role and it would become more epic than TOS. Plus there would be plot twists everywhere. Dang.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Sinoa Lakebed Troubles**

* * *

Lillian yawned loudly, stretching her arms into the air then dropping them to the side. She rubbed the stray tear in her eyes as Emil looked at her curiously, "Are you tired, Lily?" He wondered as she rubbed her other eye that also had a stray tear from her yawning.

She shook her hand, "Nah, woke up early in the morning. A big first for me, I'm a heavy sleeper. The morning here makes me want to crawl back to my bed and sleep forever." She sighed longingly, wanting to go to her comfortable bed and wrap herself in a blanket to sleep in the cool air of the morning. But _no_, instead her stupid nightmare made her mentally awake back there and now her wanted sleep was coming back with a vengeance since she didn't head over to her room in Luin to sleep but instead was going to leave Luin to check out those howls.

_It better not be Ash or so help me I will—_

"I realized that pendant you're wearing." Emil pointed out, looking at the dull red orb she wore around her neck. Lillian looked down and held her pendant, it was small but bigger than a pebble, "Oh this one?"

He nodded his head, "It's…really dull, don't you think? Did you ever tried shining it?"

"Yep but for some reason it was naturally dull, I think it's because the jewel is raw? Or maybe it's that special jewel that is dull on it's own." She played with her, twirling it around. "People offered to give me a better one but I couldn't…simply let this go. It's important to me, you know?" She gave a distant smile.

Emil was silent, not wanting to press it further. That necklace had a past with Lillian, that's for sure but he didn't want to bring it up so he left it like that. Silence loomed over the pair as the continued down the path to the exit of Luin.

"Why do I feel like monsters are calling me?" Emil suddenly spoke up with confusion, Lillian looked at him and mimicked his expression. She began thinking about it before shrugging, "Maybe because you're their god?" It was stupid but she founded it very fitting with the situation with the monsters and Emil…aside from the scorning and hating part.

"It's because of stuff like this that makes the people say it's my fault that monsters keep appearing. I've got to ignore it!" He shook his head, "I've just my imagination!" Emil tried to ignore that weird pull he was feeling with the monsters outside. It was strange, why _him_? Why did he have this situation? He didn't know.

A moment passed between the two teenagers, it broke when Emil sighed loudly. "But it's so hard to ignore."

He felt a pat on his shoulder, Lillian continued to pat him with her eyes close. She bobbed her head up and down, still patting his shoulder as if she was trying to reassure him. "Like I said, I bet you're the reincarnation of a Monster God!" She declared with a fist pump, staring into the bright blue sky.

A beat of sweat trailed down his forehead. She was strange, wasn't she?

They continued down the path to the exit of Luin, Lillian kicked the dirt underneath her feet for no reason. It was silent since they couldn't think up a conversational topic, she kicked a small pebble as it rolled away from them. "Soooo…Lake Sinoa, huh, where is it? The trip to Asgard to Luin takes awhile soo…?" She looked over to Emil who was thinking, looking at the ground.

He looked at her, "If we want to go to the Sinoa lakebed we need to leave town. I've never gone outside town on my own."

"Oh really? So Lake Sinoa isn't those indoor town lakes? Meaning, we need to encounter monsters?"

He looked nervous, "W-Wonder if we'll be alright." He looked up to the sky as if begging, "Mom, please make sure we don't run into any monsters."

Lillian looked thoughtful for a moment, "…Did they ever invent monster repellent?"

They looked at each other for a moment before sighing out loudly. If they ever had monster repellent, they would never be able to afford it since…well…they were completely and utterly empty of gald. Her wallet looked like a ghost town! She should really get a job one day.

As they continued their trek through town, they passed by people who seemed to stare at the two. Especially how Lillian was interacting with Emil Castagnier instead of ignoring or scorning him like the rest of the town did, she would try to joke around with Emil causing him to smile or laugh at her words. They had to stare, it was really _strange. _He was the enemy of the village! How could the Mayor allow her to hang out with that…that Vanguard loving brat?

Lillian ignored the stares she was receiving as she pointed as his hair, "You have weird hair." She said with her eyes lowered at that strand of hair.

He blinked before looking at his own blond hair, "Wha—? How is it weird?"

She walked closer to him and stared at that strand of hair that seemed to defy all laws of gravity, she squinted her eyes. "It defies the law of gravity. Imagine with all the things you can do with that hair! You don't even need a sword!" Lillian chirped happily, an image of Emil attacking monsters with his cowlick seemed to be stuck in her head. She began laughing at herself with those images earning a look from Emil.

"Is it that weird?" He poked at his hair.

"Nah, it's fine. You have weird physics breaking hair while mine resembles a _nest_." She pointed at the back of her hair with her thumb, Emil looked over to see that indeed her hair resembled a nest. It was long, extending past her waist but tied near the end of her hair with a white ribbon. He wondered why she tied it that way when she was wearing that blue headband. Was it style?

"One of these days, it shall serve as my weapon." She touched her hair with a serious look

When they reached the exit which also served as the entrance of Luin, a man came running across the gate looking rather frantic. Lillian paused for a moment to stare since he looked scared, as if he saw a monster or something. _Wait…he just came from outside of Luin. Of course there are monsters outside._

"Alba! What is it? Is something wrong?!" The town watchman noticed the frantic man running up to him.

Emil seemed to recoil in fright at the sight of the man, Lillian stared at him oddly before looking back at the man who had ran. "Uncle Alba…" He muttered.

Her eyes went wide as she stared at Emil with her mouth open. _That's _Uncle Alba? That person who had put Emil through all that abuse according to the mayor? Oh…Oh hell no, there is no way in hell will she ever allow him to get near Emil any longer.

She instinctively stepped forward as if shielding Emil from his uncle as he noticed the pair standing there, one looking scared and the other defensive. His gaze zeroed on Emil, glaring at him as if he was merely trash in his sight. "What do you want? Get the hell out of here, you little nuisance!" He snarled.

Emil hung his head, "I'm sorry…"

"Always getting in the way! Just go home and stay out of trouble!" He looked really pissed off at Emil, he even put emphases on his next line with his body. "Just the sight of you puts the whole town in distress!"

_Oh hell no, he did not just go there. You sir…are a bastard!_

Lillian gritted her teeth and stepped forward only for a hand to shot out a grab her wrist, she turned around in confusion as Emil just stared at her before shaking his head. She blinked, did he not want her to help him? Was he actually allowing his stupid, idiotic, _jerk _of an uncle spout insults at him? But the look Emil gave her made her lower her head, he released her wrist which caused Lillian to resort on glaring at Alba will all her might. The said man seemed to shiver while looking at the Town Watchmen.

"Forget about the Vanguard-loving brat, Alba. Did something happen?" The town watchman ignored Emil, Lillian redirected her glare to the Town Watchmen. She was beginning to have doubts with this town…

_Bastards. Every one of them…except Uncle and Mister Richter._

"Monsters I've never seen before showed up in Lake Sinoa's lakebed! Several members of the city are down!" He looked panic, she quietly scoffed.

_They're attracted by your stupidity. Then again…monster's stomachs would rot since they're all bastards._

When Lillian really hated someone, she'll insult them in her head. She would do it outside but then again…she didn't want to get in trouble with the mayor, _again_. There were a few people in Luin that faced her anger and she ended up being scolding and grounded to her room because of it, plus the mayor had to pay medical fees. According to Elliot, she may look small and dainty but she was basically a devil woman with her anger. Beware of the cheerful ones they say. Now nearly all of Luin was going to end up stuck in her hate list and tongue lashing if possible.

He looked extremely shocked by the news, "What?!"

"I'm going to gather reinforcements. Go tell the mayor what happened!"

"Right!"

They took off running, Lillian turned around and blew a raspberry as soon as they got far enough for them to not hear her. Another howl echoed while she was blowing a raspberry, she looked up at the sky with her tongue still poking out from her previous raspberry. Emil seemed to look up towards the sound of the howl, he seemed to be in deep thought about the howl…or maybe the words of his uncle.

"If we go now, we could make it down to the lakebed." His voice was meek again, she didn't like that tone. In fact, she hated that tone Emil would use.

She loved his more outgoing tone, his shy tone was absolutely adorable but once it was a tone from someone's lashes or anger, she really hated that tone. She felt reallyterrible for him from all of that abuse from his uncle and hatred from the people. Hell, he was probably alone the whole time in Luin…and that made her depressed and mad all at the same time. But she had to give points for Emil, he managed to stand all of that lashing from everyone in Luin without running away or resorting to take his own life.

Her hands curled into fists as she walked forward onto the bridge, her shoes clicking against the wood. She turned around, "You comin'?" Lillian tilted her head to the side, hoping he won't back down because of his uncle. _One day…he shall be burnt to death._

He looked up with a serious look, "I'll go. I'm not a dog. I'm a human being."

"Yeah, that's kinda obvious. Then again, one day you'll make a perfect fishing pole with your defying gravity hair. Imagine all the fish I can catch!" She grinned, trying to lighten up the mood that seemed to have lowered drastically because of Emil's bastard uncle. Emil smiled at her comment, "Thanks, Lily."

"You're welcome! Does that mean you accept being my substitute fishing pole?" She batted her eyelashes playfully, Emil seemed to sigh at her words with a small shake. "Do you even know how to fish?"

"Ahahaha—nope."

* * *

The pair of teenagers headed towards Lake Sinoa with Emil leading the way, the whole time it had been awfully quiet and peaceful with no monsters in sight. Of course, Lillian was _bored _beyond being normally bored since all they had been doing was walk, talk, walk, get distracted, walk some more, even more walking, 'Oh Emil, what's that?', talk, walk, get even more distracted, and more walking. One thing for sure that she had learned is that Emil had zero fighting experience so she did her best to teach him basic blocks and slashes with the sword they found conveniently lying in the middle of the road but he was still horrible with it.

Sometimes she laughed at his misery when he recoiled hard on hitting a tree only to promptly shut her mouth when he gave her a sad look. It was like he knew she had a weakness for his pathetic look, he just _knew_. Then again, he laughed at her when she tripped over a rock and then apologized instantly for laughing at her. Of course, instead of getting mad like any normal friend would she had to stop him from over apologizing over something that can be laughed at.

That went on for awhile when Emil would laugh at her stupidity.

So now they managed to reach Lake Sinoa's lakebed untouched by monsters.

Lillian threw her hands up as she looked around, "_Finally!_" She cried out, running away from Emil as he looked around with wonder. The girl ran off somewhere, amazed that the lakebed had literally dried up like Bell had told her before.

When the worlds merged, a lot of things began changing. So she wondered if the Triet Desert was covered in snow or the snowy parts were now hot and blazing. The world was weird that way when it changed…then again, it wasn't natural that it was changing _that _drastically. It wasn't possible since it happened too soon. Sure, things changed over time but…things weren't suppose to change as quickly as it could! It supposed to take time for something to change.

Lillian observed the broken boat, wondering if the people just left it here instead of salvaging it. And by the looks of it, it didn't look old.

"Weird how we didn't encounter monsters…Uncle Jerkface was making a pretty big deal about it." She pondered to herself before frowning, "Stupid jerkface."

She grumbled to herself a few times, kicking a pebble to the side as it hit the broken boat.

"_D'AAAAH!_"

Her eyes widened as she whirled around only to see Emil dodging an attack from a wild bear, a monster she read about named Lucrezia. Emil managed to dodge the bear's attack while he held the sword flimsily, he began running away from the bear as it came after him, she held onto her sword and ran after him. "_EMIL!_" She cried, "Don't attack!"

But the blond did not listen and tried to attack the bear only to be attacked in return, he did little damage towards the bear. She gritted her teeth, "Listen to me! STOP AND RUN!"

The bear attacked Emil once more, he tried to block only for the attack to push his sword and himself to the ground. Her eyes flew wide as she screamed, "EMIL!" She ran full speed towards Emil as he backed away from the bear. "I don't want to die like this! Get away from me!" He held his hands up in defense as the bear was ready to land a hit on the blond.

"WATCH OUT!" She and another voice cried as a girl came flying out from the tree, Lillian jumped up from the ground as both girls landed a hit on the bear in sync. The girl knelt on the ground holding out her spinner while Lillian held her sword to the side with her eyes closed as well, the bear toppled backwards behind the girls.

She had long maple hair and a fair complexion, if she stood up then probably she would be the same height as Lillian. the maple haired girl retracted her spinner, looking up showing her bright blue eyes. That girl…that girl looked really familiar to Lillian…

Lillian looked up and ran over to help, holding his hand and pulling him up to check his body for any signs of serious injuries, he got a few cuts here and there but it wasn't fatal. She sighed in relief but glared at Emil causing him to flinch and look away, "What the hell you idiot! When I say run…you run!" She barked,

He flinched as the maple haired girl walked over to him, as if going to give a lecture to him followed by Lillian but the bear seemed to groan and growl from behind. Slowly getting up, all three of them went in defensive as Lillian readied to take out her sword if needed. "It's not over yet! Are you gonna fight with me or run?" The girl held out her spinner in an attack position.

Emil seemed to think but hesitated to actually face the monster.

"Come on. You're a man! Speak up!"

He seemed to look at her as if she shed a new light on something, Lillian blinked for a moment but her gaze didn't stray away from the bear. "Hey, Emil! Are you in or what?" He snapped out of his trance and looked up, determined for once. "I…I'll fight!" He stepped forward to show his decision; the girl seemed to smirk as she took out the blades of the spinner. "Okay. Then I'll leave the frontline to you both."

They stood in front of the bear, they began running forward towards it but Lillian managed to beat them in terms of her speed as she slashed forward with her hit landing. The maple haired girl followed behind as she attacked with kicks and slashes herself before moving away, Lillian followed as she attack with slashes and jabswith Emil trying to attack the bear. Her attacks were fast like the maple haired girl, maybe because both of them wore light clothes and were light compared to Emil.

Emil, once again, was being attacked by the bear which caused the girl to run back into the sidelines and held onto her spinner. "_O healing power…_" She chanted at the same time, Lillian slashed forward as a shockwave came forth. "_Demon Fang!"_

Emil ran back as he was hit once again causing him to yelp in pain, the girl held her spinner up into the air. "_First aid!_" She called out as light surrounded Emil, healing him of his wounds now and before. Emil went back again and attacked, he wasn't good at attacking since his attacks were clumsy. Even clumsier than Lillian herself as the girl thrust forward before slashing, Lillian was fast to move and react, especially when she blocked the bear from attacking Emil even further.

The girl ran forward as she did a kick while twirling as she slashed, "_Crescent dance!_"

Emil managed to land another attack as Lillian and the maple haired girl ran forward at the same time, the girl delivered a kick and a slash while Lillian seemed to slide across the ground in sonic speed as she stabbed the bear. The bear let out a loud growl as he toppled backwards, the girls jumped back as the bear sizzled from the dual attack. Emil was breathing hard as Lillian held her sword, she looked up with wide eyes. "…Yes! I managed not to mess up!" She cheered, throwing her hands into the air.

She and the girl did a high-five together from their accomplishment with a bright smile. The girl smiled as she retracted her spinner again, "There, good work. It's pretty dangerous here, so you two better get going." She paused, her eyes went wide as she stepped back. "Hey, it's you!"

Emil blinked, his eyes went wide too. "Huh? W-What do you mean?"

She walked closer to Emil, observing him. "You don't—you don't remember me, do you?" She pointed at herself, "Maybe I'm wrong? But you look just like him." She began observing Emil from every side, as if trying to identify him.

He looked nervous, "W-W-What are you talking about? Lily did the same thing to me when she first met me…" He glanced over to the honey brown haired girl who was trying to stifle a laugh.

The girl turned to Lillian but then shook her head, "No, it's nothing, never mind. I'm sorry." She gave a smile, "Anyways, you should leave here as soon as you can, okay?" She backed away before turning around, her hair trailing behind. Emil looked up and held out a hand, "Uh, wait a minute!"

The girl stopped walking before slowly turning around, she tilted her head. "Yes, what is it? I'm in a hurry." She managed to sound so polite despite being in a hurry.

Emil looked embarrassed, looking away while shifting around. "Uh…I wanted to thank you for saving me. My name's Emil. So, um, what's your name?"

Lillian feigned hurt, "Ouch Emil, thank her and not me? Of course, naturally since she's cu—te!" She nudged him playfully. He looked at her with wide eyes, "Oh! I don't mean it that way! I'm very grateful you saved me, Lily."

She laughed for a moment, "I'm Lillian, call me Lily. It's nice to meet you."

The girl giggled at being complimented, "I'm Marta, nice to meet you too, Lily." She turned to Emil, "Is that it?"

He looked embarrassed again, "I-If it's dangerous here then maybe you should leave too." He scratched his head, Marta began thinking before blushing lightly. "If…thinks get dangerous will you save me again?" She tilted her head, her voice higher than normal

…_Don't tell me._

Emil seemed to blush too, Lillian turned to him with wide eyes at the pink that dusted his cheeks. He scratched his head and looked away, "But you were the one who was kind enough to s-save me."

…_Oh Martel, is this what I think it is?_

She laughed, her laugh was bright and cheerful. "You don't remember, do you? I'm sorry to confuse you. But I really have to get going. Take care of yourself, Emil! You too, Lily!" With that, she turned to leave. But at that that moment, her hair seemed to flip slightly up as she turned showing a bright colored red jewel.

Lillian's eyes widened at the sight followed by Emil, it was a red jewel. Bells seemed to ring in her ears causing her to look around in shock and in wonder of that sound, she heard that before…she heard it. Somewhere…somewhere in Palmacosta, that's one thing she was sure about. Both of them tilted her head at the same time, "A red jewel on her forehead…" Emil muttered.

"Is that…what he was looking for?" She muttered out in wonder as she looked at Emil, "What do you think?"

"I…I think so. I wonder if that guy is still in town. He'll probably be happy if I tell him about that girl, Marta." He seemed to smile at that thought, "It's strange though. She seemed like she knew me. Have I met her before? I think I'd remember a cute girl like her."

A sly smile appeared on her face, "Ooh! Emil's got a crush!" She sang happily, twirling around. Emil seemed to blush again, "Wha—I don't!"

Lillian nudged him playfully, "Oh shush, you have a crush on Marta! What development! What a plot twist!" She declared, holding a hand to the sky with a hand to her cheek. Her eyes sparkled, her body seemed to radiate sparkles as well. "The Prince is saved by his own Female Knight in shining spinner! The don in distress! What a fairy tale love story! Marta will swoop in riding her white steed to carry you to your happily ever after!"

"_Lily!_"

"Hmm?" She turned with big curious eyes before smiling deviously, "Oh, oh…I get it. I get it. You want it a secret, don't you? Don't worry my dearest friend, your secret is safe with me!"

"I don't—I don't mean—ugh." He hung his head in defeat, Lillian laughed loudly at his reaction. She patted his shoulder, "I'm messing with you…but maybe…someday you might…?" Her eyes turned to Emil as hopeful as it could be. Emil groaned and began walking forward, "L-Let's just go." His cheeks were still flushed pink from the teases.

"Hey, you didn't answer me!" She ran after the blond who seemed to be ignoring her, "Emil? Emil, notice meee!"

_Who knew that he was a really fun person who knows how to kid around too? Stupid people of Luin…_

Her happiness soon faded as she now began glaring at the cold, unforgiving ground. Great, now her happy moment with Emil has now disappeared and the atmosphere felt like it was ready to accept a new topic and drop the other one which she still hasn't received an answer with Emil. Could it be possible? Emil and Marta? That would be the cutest thing ever.

"You little—what are you doing here?!" A familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts, a voice that made her blood boil on hearing the scorn. She lifted her head only for Alba's gaze to land on her instead, it seemed to be shock for a moment before turning to glare at the blond. "You—how dare you bring Lily?!"

He lowered his head, "I'm…sorry…"

"You just have to go out your way to cause trouble, even dragging Lily into this! Thanks to your little grudge against Lloyd the Great, there are rumors that our family's secretly supporting the Vanguard!" He snarled, his glare growing darker. "Go home and keep your mouth shut! When I get home, so help me—"

"I forced him to come here."

All eyes widened as they turned to the honey brown haired girl who had her head down, she looked up to Alba. "I forced him to come here, with me. I was curious about the lakebed and the monsters so…so I dragged Emil to come with me." She glanced over to Emil who looked shocked that she had lied. She had lied for him. "Don't blame Emil for something he didn't do. If the monsters are acting up again after my visit then the fault goes to me."

He seemed stunned, especially that the mayor's so-called niece had stuck up for Emil. _Emil _out of all people. The lack of answer was enough for Lillian, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him past Alba's group with a neutral expression. "Let's go, Emil. Uncle is going to get really mad if I stay here any longer."

"But…" He began but continued being pulled by Lillian.

She dragged Emil away from Lake Sinoa's lakebed until they were out from Alba's sight. She released his wrist and turned back to Emil, her cold gaze turned soft as she saw his head still bowed down, actually she noticed that through the whole walk when it was silent Emil would bow his head down. She looked up to him, "…Are you okay?"

He didn't answer.

"…Emil?"

Finally, he looked up with worried and scared eyes. "What should I do? Uncle Alba was really angry." He looked really scared actually and that _broke her heart. _"I-I wonder if he'll hit me again. What should I do? I'm scared."

If Bell was here right now, she would have burst down crying while clinging onto Emil as if he was the last person on earth. Her best friend was a crybaby when it came to emotional things like this, hell, the proposal of Elliot made her bawl like a baby. She was_ that _emotional. Lillian felt her heart shatter for him, any normal and morally correct person might feel that terrible for him. He was innocent like a fly! He looked like he couldn't even hurt a fly! Aside from the bear…but still! It was painful.

She lowered her head, "I'm sorry…if I hadn't asked you to come with me to the lakebed then maybe you wouldn't have gotten in trouble." Guilt overwhelmed her. Technically, the lie she spoke was also the truth. She _did _force him to come along, asking him to tag along. She really hated her overly persistent side, her stubborn one.

"No, it's not your fault. I accepted didn't I?" He noticed that she began to guilt herself over this. His expression suddenly turned into scorn and anger, "If only Lloyd hadn't attacked Palmacosta, I wouldn't be going through all this!" He growled.

Her eyes flew wide, "Wait, did you say Palmacosta?"

He slowly nodded his head. Lillian's eyes widened as he stared at Emil. _Blond hair…blond hair…_Suddenly it hit her, "You are him!"

He flinched at her voice, "Wh-What?"

"You're him! That person who saved me! I really don't remember clearly in Palmacosta but…but I remember that a person, a person had saved me when I was unconscious somewhere and took me to Palmacosta. That person had blond hair and tanned skin…you are him!" She shouted, her eyes brightening as she tackled him into a hug causing him to stutter in shock and embarrassment. "Now I'm totally indebted to you, Emil! Even though you forgot that you saved me…I'm forever indebted to you for saving my life after Lloyd attacked me!"

His embarrassed expression turned sour as he stared seriously at her, "Lloyd attack you too?"

She nodded her head, pulling her away. "When Palmacosta was in flames, I ran to find my best friend and her aunt-in-law. Along the way I helped this maple haired girl who was…running…away…" Her eyes went wide, "Oh my gosh, I met Marta there!"

"Marta was at Palmacosta?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah…but I don't remember what was chasing her exactly but I helped her escape for some reason. And then I stumbled on this bodies, a woman and man, both with blond hair near this bridge." Emil's eyes widened even further, "…Mom…Dad…" He muttered but she didn't hear.

"And then Lloyd suddenly popped out of nowhere and chased me, I can't remember exactly what happened but I just know Lloyd chased after me and tried to kill me." She looked down sadly, "…But two years ago, Lloyd was the nicest person I've ever met…" She mumbled, thinking hard.

Emil's gaze hardened, "…That murderer, he is _not _nice." He grumbled before looking up, "Let's head back to Luin, Lily."

She looked up, hearing his demeanor suddenly shifting. Understandable, they killed his parents after all, she would murder Lloyd in cold blood if he dare lay a hand on her best friend, Elliot, her father, the mayor, Marta, or Emil. For a short time, Emil and Marta had become important to her. Maybe because she and Marta made a good pair on fighting? She didn't know. The honey brown haired girl slowly nodded her head, "Alright…" Lillian followed behind Emil as they head down the familiar path to Luin.

…

…

"But one day you'll develop a crush on Marta, right?"

"_**Lily!**_"

* * *

**A/N: That literally came into my head when Marta saved Emil when I saw TOS:DOW for the first time. Marta is Emil's knight in shining armor! I really love Marta and her fangirlness, she's me in every way towards Emil except mine stems from his cute, shy personality. His headstrong one makes me want to make fun of him and push his buttons only to be killed in the end. Ahaha—**

**Will anyone realize who I based Bell on? Imaginary cookie for them!**

**...**

**...**

**Yep. **

**Emil is still my top favorite character.**

**Please review!**


	4. Battles and Lessons

**A/N: *Drum rolls* Chapter three! Actually, I was freaking over this since I had no idea how to start it and now I had a hard time to end it. Wow. Look at that. Time for the adventures of Lillian and Emil featuring Richter! Yay!**

**On the side note, I forgot why did Richter suddenly picked a fight with Emil, Caius, and I. Celsius replaced Aqua in TOW: RM3 ahahahaha-poor Aqua.**

**Onwards to the chapter!**

**I don't own Tales of Series. Yep.**

* * *

** Chapter Three: Battles and Lessons**

* * *

"This is wonderful, I'm dead."

Lillian gave a half-hearted fist pump as soon as they passed the bridge that connected Luin to the outside world. On their trip back from Lakebed of Sinoa, Lillian suddenly—dramatically too—fell down on her knees crying in anguish to the blue sky above followed by a string of curses to the fight, the bear, and mostly the bear that attacked Lillian, Emil, and Marta. It took a lot of persuasions from Emil for her not to curl up in front of a tree and stay in her corner of woe. And by persuasions, he literally had to pull her from the tree but she put a lot of effort to not be pulled away from her tree of woe.

He managed to get her to follow him to Luin without her going in her woe mode. Now that they passed the bridge, her fate was sealed…according to her.

Emil seemed to frown, "I don't think the mayor would be cruel to you…"

She snorted, "Psh, as if. The worst thing he'll do is locking me up in the house with nothing _fun _to do. I'd die of boredom!" She threw her hands into the air, "That's the worst punishment ever, _boredom_!"

"…Th-that doesn't sound too bad, right?" He pondered for a moment as Lillian sent him a look, "You don't understand my predicament! I love the outside, I only go inside my home when I'm tired and heck or I don't want to see anyone. But it's mostly the latter. When I'm bored I end up sleeping." She shrugged.

"Then…you can sleep through your punishment?"

"If I'm in trouble, Uncle would _constantly _knock on my door before I doze off which forces me to stay awake through my punishment. Sometimes I would have to answer worksheets that he received from these people before, I think people call that person 'Professor' or something like that." She massaged her forehead then shuddered, "All that math, that history—well I don't mind history, but the _mathematics._"

Emil shrugged, "I…I personally don't think, um, math is bad. It's pretty cool if you ask me."

"_Smart people._" She said scornfully, Emil found himself smiling at her reaction. "Did you attend school in Luin? Is there even a school?"

He shrugged again, "I don't know, I haven't attended school here."

Her eyes went wide as she turned to Emil, "Wait, no? How about in Palmacosta?" Emil hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, "I don't remember…"

"THAT ISN'T FAIR! HOW COME YOU DIDN'T ATTEND SCHOOL WHILE I _HAD _TO?!" She side-stepped away from Emil while squinting her eyes at him for his comment. How dare he not go to school when he was technically older than her? That wasn't fair. No sirry. "Shun the non-believer, Shuuun."

He had to stifle a laugh. Lillian made a big deal over everything so small it was pretty hilarious to watch her get worked up over school, honestly, he didn't see school as a terrible place.

They stood in front of a two-story building, Lillian inhaled sharply as she felt sweat trail down her forehead. She turned to Emil in panic, "C…Crap, what do I say? What do I do? Casually saunter up there like nothing happened?"

He looked terrified like her, "I-I guess…uh…make up a lie?"

"Wh-What lie? That I was in your house having a pillow fight and losing track of time?"

"What kind of lie is that?!"

"I'm stupid when I'm under pressure! Don't judge me!" She retorted.

They bickered and created lies for Lillian as they quietly entered inside, the people noticed that Emil was walking with Lillian side-by-side as they seemed to glance at each other giving secret signals. They made no comment that _someone _was hanging out with Emil, the brat. The blond pushed Lillian up the stairs when she turned around to walk out the door, when Lillian peered up the steps she noticed a familiar red head talking with her Mayor of Luin.

"Oi, Emil. Look!" She whispered, pointing at the two. "Uncle has a visitor."

Emil appeared as well, looking at the people upstairs. His eyes widened, "It's that guy." He replied back, leaning closely to Lillian then turned to her. "Should we tell him about Marta?"

"…I think so, he is searching for her after all." They both crept up the stairs and hesitantly walked towards them, Emil unconsciously bowed his head. It has been a habit of his to keep his head bowed for some reason, it just happened and been like that for months.

Richter noticed the two teenagers, one that looked down while the other looking at them curiously. _Polar Opposites_. He commented in his head, "Emil. Lillian."

"It's Lily, Mister Richter." She sighed and waved her hand, "I really don't like using my full name, sounds too sophisticated for my tastes."

"Ah, my apologies, Lily. In return, call me Richter."

The mayor raised an eyebrow at the two, "Oh? Do you know Richter?" The ginger haired man nodded his head, "I asked them earlier if he knew of Marta's whereabouts."

He nodded his head, "Ah, I see…Lillian, I believed that you behaved and stayed in Luin while I was away?" Instantly the temperature dropped as she gave a nervous laugh, "Y-Yup! I was hanging out with Emil, my new best buddy right?" She placed an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close earning an embarrass look from the said person. The mayor didn't look convinced but he was surprised that she befriend Emil so quickly.

Emil looked up to Richter, "Umm, Richter?" Richter looked down at Emil with an eyebrow raised, "What is it?"

"Well, um, the girl with the red jewel on her forehead, we—"

Everything suddenly became intense as Richter grabbed Emil and shook him causing Lillian to jump away from the two, "You saw Marta?!" He shouted at his face, _at his face_. Emil seemed to be terrified at his sudden actions as his voice shook, "Yes, well you see—!"

"Where?!" He shook Emil even harder, Lillian grew concern by his sudden actions. She held out her hands, "W-Wait! Richter! Don't do that, you'll scare him!"

"Oh. Well—!" Emil started to explain himself but the Mayor waved a hand, hearing Lillian's call towards Richter, causing Richter to release Emil from his hold, "Just calm down and explain what you saw."

Lillian had to stare at the situation with a deadpanned expression. _More like Richter should calm down and stop scaring the crap out of Emil._ She mentally rolled her eyes, if it was visible then she would probably be scolded by the Mayor for being so rude.

Emil looked away and began explaining, "Lake Sinoa. Where the monsters came out. Just before—!"

"Enough!" Richter ran his fingers in his hair, to Lillian it looked like a sassy hair flip. Emil flinched as his tone and looked away, Lillian patted his shoulder reassuringly with a bright smile. "Adults are stupid." She said with all cheerfulness. Emil had to hold a small laugh on her comment.

Richter, not hearing her comment, turned to the mayor "Mayor, I would like to take them with me." He turned back to the two teenagers, "Can I trust the both of you to take me to Marta?"

Emil nodded his head and swallowed nervously, "Y-Yes." While Lillian nodded her head, "You can count on us!"

With that, Richter turned to leave as he headed downstairs from the building. "He certainly is determined." The mayor commented then eyed Lillian, "…You went out of Luin, didn't you?" The honey brown haired girl sighed and bowed her head, looking at the floor with great interest. "Yeah…"

He sighed and did a facepalm, "You will never change will you? Didn't I specifically tell you to not go? You're really like your father in many, many ways." He groaned, remembering his best friend who practically ignored his every advice on everything. They really shared similarities on being disobedient.

"Um! Please don't blame on Lillian!" Emil suddenly spoke up, looking at the Mayor. "I…I, um, forced her to come along with me to Lake Sinoa. S-So, don't blame her."

All eyes widened at his words. Lillian stared at him, shocked at his words then shook her head. "Oh hell no, _I'm _the one who forced you to come along! Don't take the blame on yourself, idiot." She smacked his shoulder causing him to flinch then held his shoulder from the pain. "Bu-But you stood up for me so I thought that I should repay you back somehow…" He trailed away.

"No need, jeez. You being my support is enough for me, you know." She frowned then smiled, "But I'm happy that you'll defend me."

Emil seemed to look away embarrassed, "Th-That's what friends do, right?"

The mayor watched the two interact, he was happy at least that Emil had a friend to be with instead of being hated by Luin. He thought for a moment before sighing, "Okay…I'll let this slide for once, Lily. You do need a breather every now and then." He nodded his head, "Take him to where you saw the girl. Just be careful of monsters, all right?"

"I LOVE YOU!" She tackled the mayor into a hug squealing gleefully, the mayor stumbled for a moment before chuckling. "Yes, I know."

She pulled away and fled to the stairs, "Come on, Emil! Let's go!" She ran down the stairs. The mayor opened his mouth to say something but they heard Lillian screech followed by the sound of someone tumbling down the stairs before hitting something hard, they all flinched at the sound. "I'm okay!" They heard Lillian say before they heard the door opening then closing shut.

The mayor shook his head with a smile, "She's a bit too reckless for her own good. Please take good care of Lily during your quest." Emil blinked, looking at the mayor then back at the stairs. He slowly nodded his head, "O-Okay, I promise."

With that, he followed his friend who was waiting for him outside of the building.

* * *

When Emil opened the door, he saw Richter looking at Lillian as if she grew two heads. He blinked, wondering what did Lillian say or do to Richter that caused him to react that way. Lillian's eyes trailed to the side, noticing Emil as she raised a hand to him. "Hey there, you took awhile. Did Uncle say anything to you?"

He blinked before looking around, "Ah, no. He just told me to be careful, that's all." He looked over to Richter who seemed to be in deep thought, "I'm ready. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

Richter glanced over and turned around, he didn't seem impressed. "You apologize too much. Of course if you want to become a dog, I won't stop you." He gestured to Emil, Lillian blinked and wondered if Richter pulled a joke or something. Emil seemed to flinch, "I'm sorr—oh."

...

Lillian snorted. Richter sighed while Emil slouched, "Sorry."

The ginger haired man shook his head, "Stop apologizing. Anyways, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." He turned around and began walking away, Emil just stared at Richter while Lillian slowly stepped closer to Emil. "…I wonder if he's _those _types of people." She whispered to her friend.

He looked confused at her words, "Those types of people?"

"Y'know, those types." She nudged Emil, "The ones who acts all cold and composed to the point you think they have no heart where in reality, they are giant softies inside." She gestured to Richter who was still walking away, Emil seemed to think for a moment before glancing up to Richter.

"…I think Richter is a nice person."

"Don't let him hear that." She snorted,

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take me to where you saw Marta." Richter was impatient, they both jumped from where they stood and scrambled over to Richter. They both bumped into each other, Lillian toppled over and skidded to the ground in the confusion with a grunt which caused Emil to turn around and began apologizing like there was no tomorrow to the fallen honey brown haired girl who was still faceplanted on the ground, Richter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is going to take awhile with them."

Emil pulled Lillian up who was cradling her aching face, he helped her over to Richter while apologizing along the way. Lillian waved him off with a hand and a smile while cradling her aching nose and forehead, Richter glanced over to the girl who had small tears gathered in her eyes because of the pain. "Here." He took an apple gel from his pocket and handed it to the girl.

Her eyes widened at the apple gel as it fell onto her hands, "Whoa—thanks!" She used the apple gel on her scratches she received from the ground, not a moment later, the pain was slowly vanishing but it was enough for her to do some good if she was going out of Luin.

Richter looked up only to see Emil nowhere in sight, he glanced over to see him trailing behind looking guilty over causing Lillian to trip and slide across the ground. "Hey, don't fall behind!" He barked. This caused him to jump again and ran over to the two, "I'm sorry!" He cried, walking ahead of them. Richter seemed to be annoyed by the fact he was in front, "What do you think you're doing walking in front of me?"

"…I'm sorry." He began trudging back, ending up lagging behind again. Richter closed his eyes and sighed, "Hey."

He shrunk away, "I'm sorry…" He ended up whimpering, Richter looked over to Emil who was hanging his head while following. "I'm not angry at you."

Lillian, who had been quiet, snorted at the whole thing then found herself holding back her laugh. "Emil, come over here for a sec." Her voice sounded nasally since she was holding her nose. Emil looked up and obediently followed and stood next to Lillian, "What is it, Lily? Does it hurt a lot?"

She waved her hand, "Nah, I feel fine thanks to Richter. Stay next to me or else Mr. Don't-say-sorry would get mad."

"I'm not mad."

"Irritated, mad, angry, all of them are the same negative emotions. You'll grow wrinkles if you nag, Richter." This earned a look from Richter who stared down at Lillian, she whistled innocently as she looked away. Emil held out a hand to her, "Um, I-I think you shouldn't make fun of Richter, Lily."

"But Richter looks so bored." She said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. Richter eyed the girl, "I can see why the Mayor allows you to roam around freely."

"That and I get irritated if I'm locked up in house, y'know? How do you feel when you're trapped in a home with nothing to do and all you have is the books you read twenty times?" She shrugged, Richter pondered for a moment.

The whole trip back to Lake Sinoa tiring and boring since no one seemed to speak up. But halfway to Lake Sinoa, they began talking about various things related to Lake Sinoa and sometimes other things that weren't related to the whole thing at all, sometimes Richter would join in the conversation and sometimes he won't but Lillian stopped pestering him later on. Emil held Lillian's sword, admiring how it looked aside from the fact it looked rather girly.

"It reminds me of cherry blossom flowers." Emil looked at it, the blade was thick enough to use for slashing but it reminded him of a rapier for some reason. Lillian pointed at the sword, "My Dad bought it, I called it Millefiore and then I found out it's _actually _called Millefiore."

"Millefiore translates into _Thousand Flowers_. Fitting for a flower themed sword such as yours Lily, are you based on your speed?" Richter joined into the conversation, Lillian glanced up to the ginger haired man and began to think. "Well, I was told my specialty lied with my speed, I'm faster than any warriors where I live. Also, I was told if I master using my sword then I'll be very powerful with my quick movements."

"It explains your clothes, it's much fitted for people who relies on speed. Though, I believe these are from Tethe'alla…before." He raised an eyebrow, Lillian looked down at her clothes then back at Richter. "My father likes traveling, these is my sixteenth birthday present he gave me. I had a feeling it was from Tethe'alla before."

Emil blinked, "Wow, your Dad must really care if he gives you expensive clothes."

She snorted, "No kidding, he spoils me every time he visits. I really want some quality time with him someday." She huffed, crossing her arms.

They failed to realize, except for Richter, that they reached the lakebed. Lillian looked up then pointed at the pathway where Marta had walked off a few hours ago, "There! That's where Marta went!" She ran up to it. Richter frowned, "Lily, don't walk ahead of us!"

She froze on the spot and backtracked, she bowed her head in apology. "Sorry, Richter."

They proceeded to the place where Lillian pointed at, while going Lillian noticed the sword Emil used before and picked it from the ground. She handed it over to Emil saying that he needed something to defend himself if monsters would attack again. They turned a corner only to see Alba and other guards hanging around in front of the cave as if inspecting it. She saw Emil flinched as they approached the group, coming closer and closer.

Alba noticed the group coming and turned around, his gaze to lock onto Emil as he snarled. "You came back again?! What's wrong with you, you demonic little brat?! Stop bringing Lily with you!"

_Oh what the hell?! What's up with the god damn hate?! _She mentally snarled at Alba, her cheerful outlook was suddenly replaced by the stern one. The Town Watchmen on the right glared at Emil, "Hmph! A friend of the Vanguard indeed!"

The one on the left agreed, looking at him with disgust. "He may be your nephew, but you took in a real pest."

Emil hung his head, "I'm—I'm sorry." He whispered. Lillian stepped forward and tugged on his shirt, he slowly looked up with a rather crestfallen expression. She gave a smile, "Ignore them." She mouthed.

Richter stepped forward, he was taller than Alba so he had to look down to the jerk of an uncle. "The mayor's given his permission for Emil to accompany me. Step aside." His voice was professional as usual, his patience seemed to grow thin after Emil was verbally abused…_again_. Alba looked up to Richter, "The Mayor? But—"

He got into his face, "Move!" He barked causing them to flinch at his tone, she mentally cheered and wanted to tackle Richter into a hug for yelling at Emil's jerk of an uncle. Alba and the guards moved to the side to allow the annoyed Richter to continue on, "What are you waiting for? Come on, let's go." He looked over to Emil and Lillian.

She nodded her head and walked over to Richter but Alba held out his hand, "W-W-Wait! There are monsters in there!" He sounded…worried? Surprised? She didn't know. Richter looked over with an eyebrow raised at his words, "Yes, and?"

He growled, "I'm telling you it's dangerous! You two can go if you want since Lily could protect herself, but leave him here with us!" He referred over to Emil, now it was Lillian's turn to look confused. "Um, what? Where's the logic in that? Through the experiences I've seen, you treat Emil like a piece of trash and you're suddenly _concerned _about him? I don't trust you, people don't change that easily." She eyed him accusingly, Richter had the same expression as Lillian, "Didn't you just call him a demonic little brat?"

All eyes fell on Emil who was still looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole world, "Emil, what do you want to do?" His tone sounded…actually caring that Lillian had to do a double-take. She waited for Emil's answer as well as she mentally cheered to herself that she was right about Richter's personality. He was cold on the outside but soft in the inside.

"I-I…" He stuttered out, confused on what side he should take.

Alba barked, "Emil! You stay with us!"

"I, um…"

"Make up your mind. Even dogs can think for themselves." Richter said,

Emil seemed to recoil as he remembered Marta's words from before. Richter didn't seem to wait as he continued down the cave, Lillian turned to look at Richter before glancing back at Emil. "Don't let fear rule your life, Emil." She turned around and followed Richter down the steps.

The blond seemed to be in deep thought, Alba scoffed. "Who the hell does he think he is?! Come on, let's go." He walked over to Emil and grabbed his arm harshly, at that moment, a howl echoed in the Lakebed. They all looked up to the sky with a surprised expression but Emil looked more shocked than anyone else. It was that same howl that brought both Lillian and Emil down to the lakebed and it was louder than ever.

He looked back to the ground and pulled his arm away, "…I'm going with them." He muttered. Alba looked surprised at his answer, "Emil!"

A new found determination and courage overcame him as he looked straight at Alba with a serious expression, "I'm going!" He turned from them and headed straight for the cave.

He wasn't a dog. He was a man.

* * *

Lillian stared at the walls with curiosity, "So this is the cave inside the Lakebed, pretty cool, yeah?" She looked over to Richter who was standing on the stairs with his arms crossed, he was waiting for Emil to make his decision and follow him down the stairs.

He made a noise of approval, she continued to look around curiously. This was the first time she had ever entered inside of a cave and she felt pretty excited with the new adventure she would experience. Richter looked over to the girl who was running around the cave, looking at the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. "Lily, I've heard that your father is an elf while your mother is a human. How can it be that you're human when you're parents are from different races?"

She looked over to him with wide eyes, "Hm? Me?" Lillian laughed and shook her head, "You see, I'm not really related to my mom or dad. My mom found me when I was a baby, abandoned in the forest and she decided to take me in as her own daughter. That's why I'm human."

"…Is that so?" Richter knew she was human yet, he felt something different about her that he couldn't quite put a finger on. Lillian nodded her head, "Yup, my mom died when I was a kid so I lived with my best friend in Asgard. My dad on the other hand is somewhere around the world being the stupid idiot he is." She crossed her arms and grumbled.

In the corner of her eye she saw the glowing blue crystal, "Oh cool!" She ran to the crystal, "Dang, I don't have a pickaxe."

Footsteps echoed in the cave, Lillian turned around to see Emil coming down the steps. She grinned and waved, "Yo, Emil! I didn't know caves were supposed to be awesome like this!" She pointed at the door, curious but she didn't touch it. Emil looked at Richter who was in the way, "Um, Richter—"

"Let's go."

"Huh?"

His eyes looked to the side but he didn't move his head, "Aren't you coming with me?" Emil looked enthusiastic, "Yes!"

"Don't get in my way. You're responsible for protecting yourself. I'll bail you out if things get too tough." He glanced over to Emil who nodded his head again, "Okay!" Richter looked over to Lillian who was observing the door, "It goes for you too, Lily. You're responsible for taking care of yourself, don't be reckless."

She stood up straight and saluted, "Aye, aye, captain!" She chirped.

Richter and Emil decided down the steps until the ginger looked over to Emil, "Alba really laid into you. Why didn't you say anything back?" Emil seemed to look distressed as he bowed his head, "I'm sorry."

"You were like that with the kids in town, as well." He closed his eyes in irritation over those kids, "Bullies like that will never leave you alone if you don't stand up to them. Do you understand? Nothing will change if you just take it!" He barked out loudly. Emil seemed to flinch at his tone, "I-I'm sorry."

"What did I say about over apologizing?"

"Oh!" He looked up surprised before looking down again, "Right."

"I'm not blaming you, you're free to do as you choose." He sighed, genuine worry shined in his eyes. Lillian looked at those eyes…they kinda look sad to be honest. As if he really _hated _seeing Emil react that way, gears began turning in her head. "Just don't be so submissive all the time. Have more respect for yourself."

Emil seemed to thinking about who he really is, Lillian slowly inched over to the blond who was next to Richter and leaned closely. "Richter really cares about you. But honestly, I have to agree. Have more respect and self-confidence on yourself, Emil. You're an amazing person." She whispered, furrowing her eyebrows.

"…Thanks…" He muttered, showing a smile to the girl. She grinned brightly, "You should smile more! You're positively adorable." She cooed happily causing him to flush red in embarrassment. Lillian sauntered over to the door as soon as they reached it, curious, she pressed a hand on the door which caused it to shine brightly with a weird symbol on it. Lillian shrieked and threw her hands onto the air, bumping into Richter as soon as she backpedaled away from the door. "I did nothing! You saw nothing." She pointed at the two boys with a glare.

They deadpanned at her reaction, Richter gestured to the door. Lillian looked to the door only to see it open, she nervously laughed. "Oh…I…uh…knew that…" She cleared her throat, "Onwards!"

Richter sighed and followed the girl as they continued to press on further, the ginger turned to look at the two teenagers. "You've both fought monsters before, I assume." Emil seemed to recoil while Lillian was deep in thought, "Huh?! I mean, well—"

He raised an eyebrow at his comment, "Don't tell me you haven't?"

Emil shrugged, "Uh…I…only a little." Lillian looked up at the ceiling with a hand on her chin, "Not that much on my part actually, Ash won't allow be to fully battle since I haven't been taught much. Only basic attacks like slash, dodge, block, oh and Sonic Thrust, Demon Fang, and my personal ones too."

"So you both have then." He nodded his head at them, Emil tilted his head. "Twice…I think…"

Richter blinked and raised both his eyebrows, "You think?"

A blue and white monster appeared from the darkness bouncing up and down, everyone turned their attention to the monster. Emil looked shocked while Lillian looked awed at the sight of the monster, "Huh…This one should do fine." He nodded his head at his own words.

"A monster?!" Emil cried while Lillian found her hands to her cheeks, "Oh my gosh, it's a Polywigle! It's a water based monster…I think."

Richter nodded his head and took out his sword, "Take out your weapons now, I want you to follow my instructions. Lillian, I trust you're good enough to handle these types?" He looked over to the honey blonde haired girl who nodded her head with a smile. "Yup! Ash let's me fights the small ones like these, I'll back you up, Emil!" She unsheathed her sword.

Emil shakily and hesitantly took out his own sword as they prepared for battle. The Polywigle just bounced around as Emil looked frantic about the whole situation, "Richter! What should I do?!" He panicked over the whole situation that he needed to fight. Sure, Lillian taught him how to swing his sword around but he was scared he might be seriously hurt.

Richter looked pretty amused to see Emil panicking over a simple monster like that one, "Stop panicking, for one. Children hunt monsters like this for fun!" He sounded really amused, Lillian looked over to Richter with her lips in a tight line. "What kind of parents let their kids fight monsters?" She rolled her eyes.

Emil looked around, "Uh…but I—!"

He rolled his eyes, "Relax. I'll give you instructions." He stood there while holding his sword, "Now, are you left handed or right handed?"

"R-Right handed."

And Richter's Lesson on Fighting continued, he taught Emil how to attack properly, how to block, how to dodge, all that basic maneuvers when using a sword. Emil didn't have a proper fighting style like Richter or Lillian to they had to make due with Emil's crappy fighting stance and attacks. Richter told them that continuous using of guard would cause the guard to break, also that if attacked while running would critically hurt them so they had to be careful. Lillian followed his instructions and assisted Emil when he was ready to attack.

"You're ready, now go!" He shouted, following behind Emil and Lillian. Richter had to agree with the honey brown haired girl, she was _fast_, she was already at the Polywigle with a jump as she landed her sword onto the monster. She flipped behind Emil and allowed him to attack, he was the less experienced one so he needed all the training he could get.

When Emil got attacked he complained to the monster, "S-Stop that!" He cried, Lillian called from the side. "I don't think he could understand you, Emil."

Emil did his very best to attack, it was enough damage for a newbie like him while Richter attacked from time to time. He was strong enough to seriously injure the Polywigle, showing how strong he really is. Probably three hits and the Polywigle would die instantly but he allowed Emil to continuously attack the Polywigle. The monster attacked back causing him to be pushed back, it came back for another round while Lillian quickly reacted. She slid across the ground and blocked the incoming attack. "Careful!"

"S-Sorry."

The fight continued on for awhile until Emil was finally getting the hang of attacking, defending, and dodging. Richter held out his hand in front of Emil, "There, that should be enough." He used his swords to perform an arte she didn't recognize with a battle cry. The Polywigle was instantly killed.

Emil looked amazed, "What was that?"

Lillian took this chance to pipe up, "It's called an arte, you'll learn them as you get used to fighting. Demon Fang and Sonic Thrust are artes, also Marta's Crescent Dance is an arte. It all depends on the weapon you're wielding." She didn't notice Richter tensing at the mention of Marta. Emil nodded his head, understanding her words. "Even I can learn them?"

Richter nodded his head, "You will in time. So, now do you understand how to fight?" Emil nodded his head, "I…I think so."

"Don't worry. I told you I'll back you up." He looked genuinely caring again, it made Lillian smile at Richter. _He really is a nice guy!_ "I'm the one who asked for your help. I won't let anything happen to you."

Suddenly, Lillian shot her hand up into the air. "Oh! Oh! Richter, what's a mystic arte?" She remembered Ash telling her something like that once before, that if she would master her skills then she would learn her mystic arte or something like that.

He looked over to the girl, "Mystic Artes are special and powerful artes that can only be achieved under certain conditions. Each Mystic Arte is unique to different people, some may have the same while others doesn't." He explained, Lillian nodded her head. "Oh, does that mean I'll my own Mystic Arte?"

"Yes."

She turned to Emil excitedly, "Isn't that cool, Emil? We could learn out final attack if we train hard enough!" She did a fist-pump, thinking of all the special abilities she could do if she learnt how to use her own mystic artes.

He blinked, "I guess."

She playfully shoved Emil, "You don't sound excited! C'mon! It's _cool_."

They continued to talk about mystic artes. With the coast clear, they continued on down the cave, Lillian looked around as she stood by Richter, "Wait, why is Marta here anyways? Why in the world would she come _here _out of all places?" She looked around the cave, nothing was interesting except for the sound of their voices bouncing around the cave. "Actually, this cave is pretty neat!" She walked off somewhere but not too far from them.

Emil looked down meekly, "Um…"

Richter turned around at the sound of Emil calling for him, "What is it?" Emil looked up to Richter, "Why are you…um, why are you looking for Marta?"

He was quiet for a moment before he pushed his glasses up his nose, "Is that something you need to know in order to live?" Even though Lillian wasn't near them, she could hear their conversation very clearly and Richter is really reminding her of Ash. Emil lowered his head, "Um, no…I was just wondering."

He looked away, "I have no need to satisfy your idle curiosity."

"I'm sorry…" The blond muttered,

"But we're a team, right? We should know why you want Marta, is she important?" Lillian walked over to them, placing her hands on her hips. "It isn't fair, Richter. Give us some information at least."

It was silent in the cave until Richter sighed out in irritation, "She is important but the rest is strictly personal business." Lillian didn't feel convinced but she shrugged, "Good enough for me." With that, she turned around and returned to admiring the cave, writing down in her notebook every now and then.

Richter turned back to Emil, "Don't apologize so excessively." Emil looked up to Richter again, "Uh…"

He folded his arms, "I am often accused of being short with people. I don't intend to change my ways, but it doesn't mean I have anything against you." He spoke with a neutral tone in his voice, not a single sound of irritation or annoyance. That seemed to brighten up Emil, "Thank you!"

They heard a snort somewhere inside the cave but chose to ignore it, "That's not something you should thank me for."

"Oh…sorry…" Emil hung his head causing a collective sigh to echo inside the cave. They turned back to the path and followed where Lillian and wandered off, they spotted her observing a crystal while holding her notebook in one hand. She was concentrating on the crystal while sketching it at the same time, Richter raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Drawin'." She pointed at her notebook before snapping it close, "Ready? Let's go!" She did a fist-pump as she stood by Emil who seemed to be staring at the ground in a daze.

They continued down the path until suddenly Richter froze and held out his hand to the side, "Emil! Lily! Stop!" He barked out. Out of nowhere, a spider came crashing down to the ground causing Emil to flinch and run back to Richter, "Pay attention! You almost walked right into a monster." He called out to Emil who bowed his head, "Sorry!"

Lily, on the other hand, shrieked loudly and madly ran over to Richter. "Stupid big spiders!" She hissed at the spider. He turned to the honey brown haired girl, "You as well, pay attention to your surroundings! Don't act reckless again!" Lillian bowed her head from the scolding she was receiving from Richter. "Sorry…"

"If you encounter any monster you see walking around, you'll have to fight them. Got it?" He pushed his glasses up as he began one of his teachings once more, "If you stumble into an enemy, as you almost did just now, they're likely to get the upper hand and attack you from behind."

Emil tilted his head curiously, "So the way you run into monsters makes a difference?" Lillian placed a hand on her chin, "Does that mean it's all about the element of surprise?" She held a finger to the ceiling.

He nodded his head, "That's right." Richter continued to explain the whole situation, "Attacking an enemy from behind works out in your favor, but if they get behind you, they'll have the advantage. It's the same for both fighting and fleeing: Be aware of the enemy's direction and movements. Failing to do so can get you killed."

They both nodded their hands, "Okay, we understand. Right Lily?" Lily began thinking for a moment before nodding her head, "So we need to play dirty to win, gotcha."

Richter folded his arms, "And one more thing. I can't have you wandering in a daze like that again, Emil, so listen." He shook his head, "It's not that I didn't appreciate your words of gratitude. I simply feel there's no need to give more thanks or apologies than a situation calls for."

Emil nodded, "A-Alright."

He pushed his glasses up, "We must express ourselves to convey our feelings to others. However, I feel emotions lose their strength once they're put into words." He did his awesome sassy hair flip again, Lillian noted. "So I prefer to speak only what is absolutely necessary. That's all."

Emil looked enthusiastic about it, "Okay!"

Richter sighed, "This is the first time I've ever had to explain this much to anyone." He pinched the bridge of his nose, Lillian stared up at Richter, her eyes sparkling brightly. Richter noticed this and raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"You're so cool, Richter. Let's get married." She suddenly declared with all seriousness causing everyone to stiffen, they stared at her like she grew two heads. Lillian noticed the flicker of nostalgia in Richter's eyes and facial expression at her words but she didn't understand why. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again, "…You have a few screws loose, Lily. I've noticed that."

She grinned, "So I've been told. But it makes the world go around! How boring would it be if everyone was dull?" She crossed her arms and turned to the path, she pointed at the door. "I see a door, is it that way?"

Emil looked over to where Lillian was pointing at, he squinted his eyes. "I think so, let's go before we encounter any monsters." He looked around the cave. The group agreed as they continued their way through the cave, Lillian looked around for any sign of monsters but casually strolled towards the door. Emil followed behind her with Richter watching the pair of teenagers act like little children, it was like Lillian was the leader while Emil was the sidekick who followed the leader like a lost puppy.

"_Master Richter!_" A female voice called out, echoing in the cave.

Emil and Lillian jumped, looking around the cave to identify the voice. "W-What was that?!" Emil was the first one to voice out the situation. Richter glanced over to them, still facing the door that Lillian pointed out. "Probably just another monster, don't worry about it."

Lillian glanced around nervously, "Well then, you're dead since apparently the monster knows your name." She pondered for a moment. _Wait, why would a monster call Richter? Usually, monsters in these caves don't have the ability to talk like some does. Wait…Master…Richter…? Something smells fishy here._

Emil really looked worried about that strange voice, "Of course I'm going to worry."

Richter turned away, pushing his glasses up. "Then you two can wait here." He walked over to the door, ready to open it.

Lillian's eyes widened as she held out a hand. "Wait, what?! We're not coming? What about you?" She tilted her head, wondering why Richter was going to allow them to stay here. Unprotected. Lillian wasn't confident to protect Emil, she had Marta and Richter to back her up. Richter looked back at them, "There's a monster in there. Probably a strong one. Wait here until I take it out."

Emil stuttered, "B-But, I…"

"You'll just get in the way. Stay here." His voice was harsh again, Lillian looked suspicious. Unlike Emil who trusted Richter wholeheartedly, she was beginning to doubt him from the time the 'monster' called out his name. Weird. She trusted Richter honestly, if he was going to tell her to jump off a cliff then she would comply. That's how much she trusted him…but now…she didn't know anymore. She grew weary ever since Lloyd had suddenly attacked her for no apparent reason.

Emil slouched in disappointment, "Okay."

Richter opened the door and entered inside, the door shut behind him as Lillian stared at the door. Her lips curled into a frown, "…Y'know, the monsters here are weak. So…why can there be a strong monster behind that door? What do you think, Emil?" There was no answer from her friend behind her, instead she heard something fall behind her. "Emil?" She turned around to see Emil on his knees.

Her eyes widened, "Whoa! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She was instantly at Emil's side. Leaning over to see if something was wrong with him or he was in shock that Richter had left them here to defeat...the monster.

He wordlessly shook his head.

"_**Aaah!" **_

They whipped their head towards the sound of the high pitched scream, Lillian's eyes widened. "That sounds like…oh my gosh, he did _not_ do what I think he just did!" She growled, unsheathing her sword and ran towards the door.

She slammed her hand on it, causing the symbols to reappear once more. The door opened with a loud sound as Lillian bolted in without any second thoughts, there was no way in hell she would allow her friend to be in danger! She couldn't abandon the person who had saved them!

"MARTA!" She called out, Emil looked up and held out his hand. "Wait! Lily!"

But his calls were unheard as the door closed behind her. Leaving Emil to frantically think for himself.

_"Wh-What should I do?"_

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger. Boom.**

**Actually I was wondering why Emil didn't question the fact that Aqua had called Richter _"Master Richter_._"_ and yet he didn't ask why the monster called him by his name let alone, master. Emil, use your logic please. No wonder Marta can manipulate you so easily actually no, no wonder everyone can manipulate you so easily.**

**Everyone hates Emil in the game, how sad. I'll kill them all.**

**Please review!**


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